Vetoed "Living Wage" Bill Fails To Be Overturned

By Sam Lewis

Washington, D.C. city council puts the large retailer accountability act to bed

Those that supported the Large Retailer Accountability Act were unable to overturn the veto it was given by Washington D.C. mayor Vincent Gray. The act, referred to as the “living wage” bill would have provided a minimum wage of $12.50 hourly to workers of retailers with annual sales over $1 billion and operating stores with at least 75,000 square feet in the district. However, retail stores with union workers would have been exempt from the bill.

The legislation appears to have been specifically aimed at Walmart, which has six stores, along with 1,800 new jobs, planned for construction in Washington, D.C. The retail giant threatened to not open these stores if the new proposed bill were to become law. Ultimately, Gray vetoed the bill, stating the city would have lost a total of 4,000 jobs, as other big retailers also would reconsider their expansions into Washington, D.C.

To overturn the mayor’s decision, nine supporting votes were needed. Of the 13 available votes, only 7 were received to overturn the mayor’s veto. This was also one less vote than it received in July, when the council passed the bill in July. The vote came after heated efforts by both supporters and critics of the legislation to gain influence over council members. “Today marks a clear defeat for the special interest groups that sought to advance a narrow political agenda without regard to the legislation's impact,” says David French, NRF’s SVP for Government Relations.

After last week’s veto, Mayor Gray said he was open to a reasonable increase in pay wage, applying to all workers. Doing so, he cited President Obama’s proposal to bump up federal minimum wage by $1.75, up to $9 hourly. Councilman Tommy Wells, a democrat wishing to succeed Gray as mayor, cast a vote against the legislation. However, he also introduced a new bill, with nine co-sponsors, to still raise the city’s current minimum wage. Though details are not currently available, Wells’ plan is to adjust the city’s minimum wage, currently at $8.25 per hour, to match the rate of inflation. Raising the minimum wage to match inflation makes sense, and it won’t have the devastating effect that raising minimum wage by $5 hourly may have had.