ROCKVILLE, Md. — The new Montgomery County Council president is calling on his colleagues to hold off a vote on a bill that would set the minimum wage at $15 an hour in the county.
Roger Berliner is calling for the delay even though the bill to increase the minimum wage has the support of a majority of the council.
However, Berliner and several other council members support a slower approach.
At a briefing with reporters on Monday morning, Berliner said he’s aware of the pressures that many working families face. But he also worries that pushing ahead with the $15 an hour minimum wage would hurt small businesses, cost jobs and chase business owners out of the county.
“It is true that there are way too many people working two, three jobs, and barely getting by.” But it’s also true, said Berliner, that small business owners have had to absorb a lot of changes stemming from the last move to boost the county wage rate to $11.50 an hour.
Now, Berliner said, business owners are facing another increase in the rate they would have to pay their workers.
“Our small business community is totally concerned that this will throw people out of work, that it will cause them to close their businesses, that they will have personal bankruptcies,” he said.
Berliner said he’ll ask the council to delay the vote on the minimum wage bill and instead seek approval of a study on the impact a possible wage increase could have. As council president, Berliner cannot block a bill from coming to a vote if a majority — at least five members — want to move ahead with a vote. The issue is on the agenda for Jan. 17.
Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett expressed concerns with the $15 an hour minimum wage bill in its original form, but later indicated that with a change to delay its implementation until 2022, he could support it.
