Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Minimum wage workers in Montgomery County may be getting a raise to $15 an hour by 2020. They now earn $10.75. Tuesday the county council’s health and human services committee talked about the benefits and drawbacks of increasing the minimum wage.
Most committee members agree it’s difficult for someone earning minimum wage to live in Montgomery County, even if the person works 40 hours a week.
“So I look at this as a fundamental social justice issue,” said committee member Marc Elrich. He added that some people would argue that these are beginning wages for beginning jobs, but he pointed out there is no beginning rent, and there are no beginning food prices.
“You leave you parents house, and you’re out there in the real world, and you’ve gotta put food on the table, nobody’s cutting you a beginning slack. Everybody expects you to pay the same as everybody else, and you may not have the resources to pay the same as everyone else,” Elrich said.
Many pointed out the high cost of living in the county compared to other places, and the county’s wealth. Council president Roger Berliner acknowledged both.
“But do not confuse those two things with the capacity of our small business community to absorb this without negative impacts,” said Berliner.
Committee member Nancy Floreen said some business owners told her they have had to cut the number of people they employ since the minimum wage started increasing incrementally in 2013. The final increase will be be in July of 2017 when the minimum wage will go up to $11.50.
Carlos Jiminez with the A-F-L-C-I-O said research shows employment opportunities won’t decrease if the minimum wage is increased in increments. He believes increases in business costs would be offset by some of the benefits of raising the minimum wage, including higher employee retention rates.
A number of council members thought they should hold off on making any decisions until they have a comprehensive analysis of how raising the minimum wage would affect the county, business owners and employees.
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