DC, MontCo and PG Vote to Raise Minimum Wage

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Three votes last week kept the metro Washington area on the cutting edge of efforts across the country to increase the minimum wage, but fell significantly short of supporters’ hopes. A DC City Council committee last Monday unanimously approved a bill that would raise the city’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour, one of the nation’s highest, by 2016. On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council voted to establish a county minimum wage and raise that hourly rate to $11.50 by 2017; Prince George's County Council okayed the same increases the next day. However, Montgomery County – whose full Council was the first to vote -- “missed the opportunity to make history,” said Metro Washington Council President Jos Williams. Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and Councilmembers Roger Berliner, George Leventhal and Hans Riemer “undermined the regional pact” between Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and the District of Columbia by delaying to increase to 2017 and stripping out indexing future increases to the CPI. “This is not the kind of leadership we expect and deserve in Montgomery County,” Williams said. "Shame on Ike, George, Roger and Hans.” In contrast, Williams credited Councilmember Marc Elrich “for real leadership in brokering the regional agreement and Council President Nancy Navarro and Councilmember Valerie Ervin for stepping up by co-sponsoring the original bill that would have changed the lives of millions of workers in this region.” The DC City Council will take its minimum wage bill up tomorrow and supporters say they hope it will accept the recommendation of the committee.