Bill would ban Alabama cities from raising minimum wage

The bill’s sponsor said it was about uniformity, and ensuring that 400 cities don’t have different wage floors.

“The federal government sets our minimum wage, and Alabama and many, many other states have accepted the minimum wage,” Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, said before the House Ways and Means General Fund committee Wednesday afternoon. “I believe it’s a recent phenomenon that cities might take action to have their own minimum wage.”

But the bill’s critics said Faulkner’s bill -- which would forbid cities from setting their own minimum wages -- pre-empted local governments and efforts to combat Alabama's rampant poverty.

“We tax the people who are poor,” Rep. Darrio Melton, D-Selma, a longtime sponsor of state minimum wage legislation, said at the hearing. “Now we’re saying, ‘Keep their wages low.’”

Alabama does not have a state minimum wage, but follows the federal floor of $7.25 an hour. Last month, the city of Birmingham -- following the lead of many other cities around the country -- passed an ordinance that would raise the minimum wage in the city to $8.50 an hour next July, and $10.10 in July, 2017.

The overall effects of a minimum wage increase remain a much-debated topic among economists, with conservatives and liberals having data to make their case for or against it. Birmingham’s increase is modest compared to the $15 an hour moves some cities have made. But Faulkner said he was “shocked” by Birmingham’s move, and said if other cities followed it, it could hurt economic development.

“Setting the minimum wage and tinkering with the minimum wage has drastic effects on what you do,” he said.

The effect of the bill on Birmingham’s ordinance was not clear. Opponents said Faulkner’s bill would hurt local democracy.

“Municipalities have different tax rates,” said Doug Hoffman of Engage Alabama. “Each municipality governs themselves based on the needs of that community. In this bill we have state government saying ‘We need to take a one size fits all approach to lawmaking.’”

Democratic legislators criticized the legislation. Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Prichard, who has sponsored local legislation to raise the minimum wage in Montgomery, called the bill a “backdoor attempt” to take away local decision making power.

“We’re supposed to be addressing the General Fund budget, and not taking away the rights of cities and counties,” he said.

Hoffman also said that better paid employees were more productive and tended to stick with a business longer. Rep. Elaine Beech, D-Chathom, a pharmacist, agreed.

“We rewarded our employees with higher wages and they tended to work better,” she said.

The committee did not vote on the proposal Wednesday, though it could do so as early as Thursday. The legislation was not in Gov. Robert Bentley’s call for the special session.