$11.50 Minimum Wage in D.C. in 2016 After City Council Unanimously Approves Bill
The Washington D.C. City Council approved a bill yesterday that would increase the minimum wage in the district to $11.50 per hour, making it one of the highest in the nation.
The wage increase won't take effect until 2016 and would be indexed to inflation from then on.
The bill now goes to Democratic Mayor Vincent Gray for his signature. Gray has advocated for a more gradual minimum wage increase, but is not expected to veto the bill, given the council's unanimous support.
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Gray has opposed the measure and recently vetoed a wage increase directed to new big box retailers in D.C. He insists that more work needs to be done in order to assess the effects of such a wage increase.
Once the higher pay takes effect, the three jurisdictions would form a region with 2.5 million residents and a minimum wage higher than any of the 50 states. Virginia, which borders Washington, requires employers to pay the federal rate of $7.25 an hour.
Washington D.C. joins Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties, both in Maryland, who have already passed legislation that would increase wages in those counties beginning in 2017. The series of moves to increase low wages was coordinated with legislators in those counties.
There has been debate on both sides of the minimum wage issue, with proponents of an increase saying increased worker pay would spur greater economic activity, while detractors contend that any increase would be detrimental to businesses.
"Clearly there's a need for an increase, but what is the level to which businesses can still create jobs even while paying a higher wage," David Harrington, president and CEO of the county chamber of commerce, told CNNMoney.
Other opponents to an increase contend that the majority of workers who earn minimum wage are teens or those in their first job and that those positions were set up to be stepping stones to better paying positions.
However, statistics from the Department of Labor reveal that there are roughly 40 percent of minimum and low-wage workers have children and are far different from a teen still living at home.
"We estimate that only about 10 percent of the workers earning less than $12 per hour in Montgomery County are teens," Economic Policy Institute analyst David Cooper advised the county council during a previous hearing.
The greater Washington D.C. area, covering northern Virginia and southern Maryland, has seen exponential growth over the last decade with a recent report from the Census Bureau showing that now eight of the 13 U.S. counties with the highest median income last year were in those areas.
