Living Wage Howard County celebrates the passage of CB82-2021 as a significant first step toward economic justice for Howard County’s low-wage frontline workers. The bill raises the minimum wage for most employees to $15/hr in 2023 and $16/hr in 2025, putting $161 million in the pockets of 40,000 workers over the next five years, and this will help folks feed their families, care for their kids, and save for a rainy day. Additionally, the bill guarantees an annual adjustment of the minimum wage to the local Consumer Price Index beginning on January 1, 2027, allowing our lowest-paid frontline workers paychecks to keep up with inflation. CB82 will benefit 25% of all Howard County’s workers, including 30% of all working women, 33% of the county’s Black workers, 51% of all Latinx workers, 25% of the county’s Asian and Pacific Islander workers, and 75% or all workers in low-income families. Additionally, CB82 will help our local businesses by making it easier to hire and retain workers.
The Living Wage Howard County coalition is grateful to Council Chair Opel Jones and Council Vice Chair Christiana Rigby for their leadership in writing and sponsoring CB-82, and to Councilpersons Liz Walsh and Deb Jung for voting for the bill.
While this is a great step forward, it’s not enough. The Living Wage Howard County coalition continues to grow. We will continue to seek new partners and educate our community about the benefits to our neighborhoods, schools, families, and businesses of providing a living wage to all workers. And we guarantee this – we will continue to advocate for further increases to the minimum wage in Howard County until every worker is paid a living wage.
Our Coalition includes:
