Parrott: Let counties set minimum wage

ANNAPOLIS — Although people were lined up across the street to speak in the Senate Finance Committee on a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, Del. Neil Parrott spoke Thursday about what he called an alternative.

Parrott filed legislation to scrap the state’s minimum wage altogether and let Maryland counties set their own minimums.

“I believe that Maryland needs to have choices, and this bill will allow each county to have their own choice as to how the minimum wage is going to go,” he said.

A $15 minimum wage will result in jobs being replaced by automation, he said, using a photo of “Marty,” a new robot used by a local grocery store to point out spills in the aisles, to make his point.

“We’re already seeing it with Marty, we’re seeing it in McDonald’s — you have kiosks that are now replacing people, where you can place your order. Not only do you have kiosks, but you can use your iPhone to place your order at several different fast-food restaurants.

“And this is good for the large national chains, but when you look at the local stores, the local mom-and-pop shops that are trying to sell food, they don’t have these options. They can’t invest with that technology, and unfortunately, what we’re going to see is a lot of them going out of business.”

Parrott argued that the loss of jobs “is going to hurt really the very people the ($15 minimum wage) is designed to help — those low-income workers. Also, those people who are just trying to get experience to get into the job market. One size does not fit all.”

He noted that median incomes vary greatly in Maryland. In Howard County, he said, the median income is $115,000; in Somerset, $39,000.

Parrott predicted that in counties with lower median incomes, more jobs will be lost — and “we’re going to see people move from work to welfare, to government assistance, and that’s something we certainly can’t afford.”

Unemployment rates and poverty levels also vary in Maryland counties, he said, and are “again a major problem for wanting to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. … This unemployment rate is simply going to go higher.”

Under Parrott’s bill, counties could set their own minimum wage, as long as it is at least the federal minimum, which is $7.25.

Dels. Trent Kittleman, R-Howard/Carroll; Ric Metzgar, R-Baltimore; and Susan McComas, R-Harford, appeared with Parrott in support of the bill.

Parrott acknowledged his bill might be a longshot, particularly since the House Economic Matters Committee won’t consider it until March 5, nearly a month after it heard the $15 minimum wage bill.

But he said he hopes legislators will remember the testimony of business owners opposing the higher minimum wage and “see that there are options, and they put the brakes on and actually think about these bills before they vote them out.”