Montgomery Council, County Executive ask Maryland General Assembly not to prohibit local laws on wages and benefits

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Montgomery County Council,

County Executive Leggett write to oppose

General Assembly bill that would limit

local jurisdictions from enacting

minimum wage and benefits legislation

Letter says of House Bill 317: ‘This is an

unacceptable intrusion into local authority’

 

ROCKVILLE, Md., February 7, 2017—The Montgomery County Council and County Executive Ike Leggett today sent a letter to Maryland State Delegate Dereck Davis, chair of the House Economic Matters Committee, opposing House Bill 317 that would prohibit local jurisdictions from enacting their own laws regarding minimum wages and benefits. The letter was signed by all nine County Councilmembers, in addition to the County Executive.

 

In their letter, the Montgomery County elected officials wrote: “This bill would preempt a county or municipality from enacting a local law that relates to minimum wages or employee benefits. The bill also preempts a county or municipality from enforcing a local law relating to minimum wages or employee benefits that is enacted on or after January 1, 2017. In essence, the bill rescinds longstanding authority held by local governments which allows local elected officials to enact laws that they believe are in the best interests of stakeholders within their respective counties and municipalities. This is an unacceptable intrusion into local authority.”

 

Council President Roger Berliner further said: “Our County is best positioned to address the unique needs of our community. That fundamental responsibility should not be usurped by the State. My colleagues and I and the County Executive all stand firmly in opposition of this bill.”

 

 

  The complete text of the letter:

 

February 7, 2017

 

 

The Honorable Dereck E. Davis

Chair, House Economic Matters Committee

Lowe House Office Building, Room 231

Annapolis, Maryland 21401

 

Re:       House Bill 317 – Labor and Employment - Wages and Benefits - Preemption of Local Authority

 

Dear Chairman Davis,

 

Montgomery County vehemently opposes House Bill 317 - Labor and Employment - Wages and Benefits - Preemption of Local Authority. This bill would preempt a county or municipality from enacting a local law that relates to minimum wages or employee benefits. The bill also preempts a county or municipality from enforcing a local law relating to minimum wages or employee benefits that is enacted on or after January 1, 2017. In essence, the bill rescinds longstanding authority held by local governments which allows local elected officials to enact laws that they believe are in the best interests of stakeholders within their respective counties and municipalities. This is an unacceptable intrusion into local authority.

 

Montgomery County has numerous local laws that fall within the scope of House Bill 317, including, for example, laws relating to minimum wages, earned sick and safe leave (ESSL) benefits, displaced service workers and employment contracts for domestic workers. The bill prohibits the County from enacting new laws that modify these existing laws. The bill also prohibits the County from enacting new laws that relate to employee benefits in any other way.

 

The critical necessity of providing sufficient authority to local governments to allow them to respond flexibly to local conditions is illustrated by reviewing the various factors that the County evaluated before it enacted a local minimum wage law in 2013, and before the County Council passed a minimum wage bill this month that was vetoed by the County Executive.

 

When the State’s minimum wage was set at $7.25 in 2013, the County enacted a law which phased in a higher local minimum wage over four years, starting at $8.40 on October 1, 2014 and increasing to $9.55 on October 1, 2015, $10.75 on July 1, 2016, and $11.50 on July 1, 2017. Over the course of the past year, with the State minimum wage set at $8.75 in 2016 and scheduled to increase to $9.75 in 2017 and $10.10 in 2018, the County evaluated legislation that would have further increased the local minimum wage in the coming years. Although the results

 

of those two legislative processes ended with different results (a new law in 2013 and a vetoed law in 2017), both of these processes reveal the extraordinary due diligence that the County exercised before making decisions about a minimum wage level that best serves the County’s businesses and residents.

 

In the course of evaluating the 2013 and 2017 legislation, the County spent a substantial amount of time evaluating the overall purposes of minimum wage laws, including the potential boost to the local economy and reduced reliance on public assistance programs, and the appropriate amount of a local minimum wage. Because the policy issues in this area are very complex, the County’s due diligence included an extensive evaluation of numerous potential impacts on the local economy, including: employee earnings; wage compression for workers currently earning above the minimum wage; employment rates; teen employment; workforce composition (e.g., age, gender, race and ethnicity); efficiency and productivity; turnover rates; employee motivation; non-wage benefits (e.g., free and reduced price meals for restaurant employees); training provided by employers; consumer spending; pricing of goods and services; and business profits.

 

The County also evaluated other specific factors, including the cost of living and job market in the Washington metropolitan area, other minimum wage laws within the region and potential costs and benefits to local businesses, nonprofit organizations and employees. The County’s analysis included an evaluation of the cumulative impact of other worker protection mandates as well as unique impacts on particular types of businesses and nonprofits, including small businesses, health care providers that are dependent on Medicaid reimbursement, businesses employing home healthcare aides and nonprofits providing critical services to children and elderly, sick, homeless and other vulnerable residents.    

 

The County’s evaluation of legislation relating to ESSL benefits, displaced workers and employment contracts for domestic workers involved similar lengthy and comprehensive debates regarding policy questions that are highly dependent on characteristics of the local economy.   Each of these vigorous debates clearly reflected the fact that the County was in the best position to evaluate the goals and consequences of each proposal.

 

For all of the reasons discussed above, we strongly oppose the State’s preemption of local authority that is reflected in House Bill 317 and urge you to withdraw the bill or give it an unfavorable report.

Release ID: 17-439
Media Contact: Patrick Lacefield 240 777 6528