Baltimore City Council moves to raise minimum wage

On Monday, February 6, lead sponsor Mary Pat Clarke joins with colleagues and Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young in introducing Bill 17-0018: “City Minimum Wage” to achieve $15 by 2022 for working Baltimoreans.

According to Councilwoman Clarke, “This legislation protects our smallest businesses from burdensome annual increases and sets our local workforce on the path to self-sufficiency.”

City Council President Young thanked Councilwoman Clarke for her efforts to raise Baltimore’s minimum wage responsibly.

“I worked cooperatively with the sponsor of the bill on a compromise piece of legislation that will allow Baltimore to lead the state as an example of how to put workers first. I look forward to supporting the bill as introduced.”

Bill 17-0018 proposes to raise the City’s minimum wage in incremental steps to $15 by 2022. Small businesses of fewer than 50 employees are given a longer schedule in which to achieve $15 by 2026, in annual increases of 60-cents a year. The City will follow the State’s minimum wage schedule until July 1, 2018, affording all employers a year-and-a-half to prepare for local wage increases.