DC Council unanimously approves minimum wage hike
Source: Associated Press
The D.C. Council voted unanimously Tuesday to increase the District of Columbia’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour, one of the nation’s highest.
The vote by the 13-member council follows a national trend in which localities and states are addressing the minimum wage in the wake of federal inaction. Last month, suburban Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland also approved raising their minimum wages to $11.50. California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island have raised their minimum wages this year.
The council bill must clear one more vote before it goes to Mayor Vincent Gray’s desk. The Democratic mayor has advocated for raising the city’s minimum wage from its current $8.25 to $10 an hour, but not higher. However, he said Tuesday he wants to continue working with the council to find consensus on the appropriate increase and whether future increases should be tied to inflation, as the council bill would do.
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The bill approved Tuesday would increase the district’s lowest wage to $9.50 on Jan. 1, $10.50 in July 2015 and $11.50 in July 2016, with future increases tied to the Consumer Price Index to keep up with inflation. The district government is reliably liberal on economic issues, and much of the opposition has come from those who say it won’t lift city residents out of poverty.
Read more: http://m.washingtonpost.com/business/dc-council-unanimously-approves-minimum-wage-hike/2013/12/04/cbd51d5c-5cf3-11e3-8d24-31c016b976b2_story.html
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