D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson sign the minimum wage bill into law.
Today, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson honored Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday by commemorating and celebrating his legacy by signing the bill that will increase the minimum wage across the District.
“A living wage should be the right of all working Americans.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr., (1966)
Flanked by D.C. Council Members, Mayor Gray and Chairman Mendelson signed the minimum wage bill into law that will raise the wage steadily in the district to $11.50/hr. by 2016 and index the wage to inflation after that.
On Tuesday December 17, D.C. Council took a stand for a living wage and passed the minimum wage bill. The council unanimously passed the bill with a 13-0 vote on the first reading December 3. Companion legislation extends paid sick day coverage to tipped workers in the district, who were not included in the sick days bill in 2008.
D.C. joins Montgomery County and Prince George’s County who signed their bill in December 2013.