Baltimore City Council
File #: 12-0063R    Version: 0 Name: Request for Federal Action - Raising the Minimum Wage
Type: City Council Resolution Status: Failed
File created: 8/13/2012 In control: Labor Committee
On agenda: Final action: 7/15/2013
Enactment #:
Title: Request for Federal Action - Raising the Minimum Wage FOR the purpose of expressing the Baltimore City Council's support for raising and indexing the federal minimum wage and the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers to restore it to its historic value, and calling upon Congress to draft or pass, and the President to sign, legislation that would do so.
Sponsors: President Young, Brandon M. Scott, Rochelle Spector, Sharon Green Middleton, Nick Mosby, Helen L. Holton, Edward Reisinger, Carl Stokes, Warren Branch, Mary Pat Clarke, William "Pete" Welch, Robert Curran, Bill Henry, James B. Kraft
Indexes: Minimum Wage, Resolution
Attachments: 1. 12-0063R - 1st Reader.pdf, 2. Labor Comm. - 12-0063R.pdf
* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
      INTRODUCTORY*
 
      CITY OF BALTIMORE
      COUNCIL BILL           R
      (Resolution)
                                                                                                                                                           
Introduced by: President Young
                                                                                                                                                           
 
      A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
 
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Request for Federal Action - Raising the Minimum Wage
 
FOR the purpose of expressing the Baltimore City Council's support for raising and indexing the federal minimum wage and the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers to restore it to its historic value, and calling upon Congress to draft or pass, and the President to sign, legislation that would do so.
body
Recitals
     
   WHEREAS, the minimum wage under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act is only  $7.25 per hour, or $15,000 a year for a fulltime, year round worker.
 
  WHEREAS, the current federal minimum wage leaves fulltime earners and their families below the federal poverty line.
 
  WHEREAS, the federal minimum wage would be over $10 per hour had it kept pace with the rising cost of living over the last forty years.
 
  WHEREAS, 76% of workers earning at or near the minimum wage are adults, and minimum wage earners are disproportionately women and people of color.
 
  WHEREAS, the federal minimum wage for workers who receive tips has been frozen at a meager $2.13 since 1991.
 
  WHEREAS, the overwhelming majority of workers subject to this subminimum wage are women.
 
  WHEREAS, in Baltimore, 36% of households headed by a single mother live below the poverty line.
 
  WHEREAS, eighteen states have raised their minimum wages above the federal rate, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
 
 
  WHEREAS, ten states index the minimum wage each year to keep pace with the rising cost of living  a key protection to prevent the minimum wage from eroding again.
 
  WHEREAS, the Rebuild America Act, proposed by Senator Tom Harkin (DIA) would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.80 per hour in three steps by 2014, index it each year after that to keep pace with inflation, and raise the minimum wage for tipped workers to 70% of the regular minimum wage.
 
  WHEREAS, this increase would raise pay for more than 28 million Americans and generate more than $25 billion in new consumer spending, resulting in more than 100,000 new fulltime jobs, as higher sales lead businesses to hire more employees.
 
  WHEREAS, corporate profits are now the largest share of GDP since 1950, while wages and salaries are now the lowest share of GDP since 1955.
 
  WHEREAS, the minimum wage is becoming more important than ever to America's economy as more workers rely on lowwage jobs to make ends meet, and as job growth since the recession has been disproportionately concentrated in lowwage occupations.
 
  WHEREAS, the most rigorous academic research shows that raising the minimum wage boosts incomes of lowpaid workers without reducing employment, even during periods of high unemployment.
 
  WHEREAS, an increase in the federal minimum wage would be especially impactful in states such as Maryland that do not have a higher state minimum wage.
 
  WHEREAS, the wage increase would have a direct positive impact on the wages of 320,000 Marylanders and would generate $1 billion in new consumer spending in the state.
 
  WHEREAS, an increase in the minimum wage could lift thousands of Baltimore families and children out of poverty.
 
  NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, that the Council supports raising and indexing the federal minimum wage and the subminimum wage for tipped workers to restore it to its historic value, and calling upon Congress to draft or pass, and the President to sign, legislation that would do so.  
   
   AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to  the Mayor, the Maryland Delegation to the 112th Congress, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
 
 
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