1

1 Bill No. xx-17

2 Concerning: Human Rights and Civil
3 Liberties County Minimum Wage
4 Amount Annual Adjustment
5 Revised: 07/13/2017 Draft No. 2

7 Introduced:
8 Enacted:
9 Executive:
10 Effective:
11 Sunset Date: None
12 Ch. , Laws of Mont. Co.

14

15 COUNTY COUNCIL
16 FOR MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND
17

18 Lead Sponsor: Councilmember Elrich

19 Co-Sponsors: Councilmembers Leventhal and Riemer
20
21AN ACT to:
22 (1) increase the County minimum wage by a certain amount;
23 (2) require the Chief Administrative Officer to adjust the County minimum wage rate
24 each year;
25 (3) require the Office of Legislative Oversight to conduct an annual analysis of the
26 impact of the County minimum wage; and
27 (4) generally amend the laws governing the minimum wage
28
29By amending
30 Montgomery County Code
31 Chapter 27, Human Rights and Civil Liberties
32 Article XI. County Minimum Wage
33 Section 27-68
34By adding
35 Montgomery County Code
36 Chapter 27, Human Rights and Civil Liberties
37 Article XI. County Minimum Wage
38 Section 27-70A
39
40 Boldface Heading or defined term.
41 Underlining Added to existing law by original bill.
42 [Single boldface brackets] Deleted from existing law by original bill.
43 Double underlining Added by amendment.
44 [[Double boldface brackets]] Deleted from existing law or the bill by amendment.
45 * * * Existing law unaffected by bill.

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46
47The County Council for Montgomery County, Maryland approves the following Act:

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48 Sec 1. Section 27-68 is amended and Section 27-70A is added as follows:

4927-68. Minimum Wage Required.
50 (a) County minimum wage. Except as provided in Subsection (b), an
51 employer must pay wages to each employee for work performed in the
52 County at least the greater of:
53 (1) the minimum wage required for that employee under the Federal
54 Act;
55 (2) the minimum wage required for that employee under the State
56 Act; or
57 (3) [$11.50] $15.00 per hour.
58 (b) Annual adjustment. The Chief Administrative Officer must adjust the
59 minimum wage rate required under Subsection (a)(3), effective July 1,
60 2023, and July 1 of each subsequent year, by the annual average
61 increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners
62 and Clerical Workers, CPI-W, or a successor index, for the previous
63 calendar year. The Chief Administrative Officer must calculate the
64 adjustment to the nearest multiple of five cents, and must publish the
65 amount of this adjustment not later than March 1 of each year.
66 (c) Exclusions. The County minimum wage does not apply to an employee
67 who:
68 (1) is exempt from the minimum wage requirements of the State or
69 Federal Act;
70 (2) is under the age of 19 years and is employed no more than 20
71 hours per week; or
72 (3) is subject to an opportunity wage under the State or Federal Act.
73 [(c)](d) Retaliation prohibited. A person must not:
74 (1) retaliate against any person for:

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75 (A) lawfully opposing any violation of this Article; or

76 (B) filing a complaint, testifying, assisting, or participating in
77 any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing
78 under this Article; or
79 (2) obstruct or prevent enforcement or compliance with this Article.
80 * * *
8127-70A. Annual impact analysis.
82 The Office of Legislative Oversight must submit a report to the Council, by
83January 31 of each year, analyzing the impact of the County minimum wage on the

84local economy.

85 Sec. 2. Transition.
86 Notwithstanding Section 27-68, as amended in Section 1, except when the
87scheduled increases are suspended under subsection (e), the County minimum wage,

88until July 1, 2022, must be the greater of the minimum wage required under the

89Federal or State Act or:

90 (a) for an employer who employs 26 or more employees:

91 (1) effective July 1, 2018, $12.50 per hour;
92 (2) effective July 1, 2019, $13.75 per hour; and
93 (3) effective July 1, 2020, $15.00 per hour.
94 (b) for an eligible employer under subsection (c):
95 (1) effective July 1, 2018, $12.00 per hour;
96 (2) effective July 1, 2019, $12.75 per hour;
97 (3) effective July 1, 2020, $13.50 per hour; and
98 (4) effective July 1, 2021, $14.25 per hour.
99 (c) An employer is eligible for the implementation schedule in subsection
100 (b) if the employer:
101 (1) employs 25 or fewer employees;

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102 (2) has tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
103 Revenue Code; or
104 (3) provides:
105 (A) home health services as defined by 42 C.F.R. 440.70 or
106 home or community-based services as defined by 42
107 C.F.R. 440.180;
108 (B) receives at least 75% of gross revenues through state and
109 federal Medicaid programs; and
110 (C) is certified by the Office of Human Rights as meeting the
111 requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B).
112 (d) For the purposes of subsections (a) and (b), an employers number of
113 employees must be calculated based upon the employers average
114 number of employees per calendar week during the preceding
115 calendar year for each week at least one employee worked for
116 compensation. For employers that did not have any employees during
117 the preceding calendar year, the employers number of employees
118 must be calculated based upon the average number of employees who
119 worked for compensation per calendar week during the first 90
120 calendar days of the current year in which the employer engaged in
121 business.
122 (e) (1) On or before January 31 of each year beginning in 2018
123 through 2022, to ensure that economic conditions can support a
124 minimum wage increase, the Director of Finance must
125 determine and certify to the Executive and Council if:
126 (A) total private employment for Montgomery County
127 decreased by 1.5% over the period from April 1 to June
128 30 of the previous year. The calculation must compare

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129 total private employment in June to total private

130 employment in April, as reported by the Maryland State
131 Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulations
132 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data series;
133 (B) total private employment for Montgomery County
134 decreased by 2.0% over the period from January 1 to
135 June 30 of the previous year. The calculation must
136 compare total private employment in June to total private
137 employment in January, as reported by the Maryland
138 State Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulations
139 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data series;
140 (C) the Gross Domestic Product of the United States, as
141 published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, has
142 experienced negative growth for the preceding two
143 quarters; or
144 (D) the National Bureau of Economic Research has
145 determined that the United States economy is in
146 recession.
147 (2) If, in any year, the Director of Finance certifies that a condition
148 in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (1) occurred, the
149 Executive may, on or before February 10 of that year, suspend
150 the minimum wage increases scheduled under subsections (a)
151 and (b) for that year.
152 (3) If the Executive suspends the scheduled minimum wage
153 increases for a year, all dates specified in subsections (a) and
154 (b) that follow the temporary suspension must be postponed by
155 an additional year.

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156 (4) The Executive must not suspend scheduled minimum wage
157 increases under this Section more than two times.
158Sec. 3. Effective Date.
159 This Act takes effect on July 1, 2018.

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160

161Approved:

162
Roger Berliner, President, County Council Date
163Approved:

164
Isiah Leggett, County Executive Date
165This is a correct copy of Council action.

166
Linda M. Lauer, Clerk of the Council Date

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