Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald vetoed a bill meant to raise the minimum wage for all hourly county employees.
County Council passed the bill in early June with a 10-4 vote.
The bill would raise the minimum wage for hourly full-time, part-time and seasonal county employees to $18 an hour in 2024. It would then increase by a dollar-per-hour to $19 in 2025 and $20 in 2026.
The bill’s supporters say it’s important to pay county employees a competitive wage amid rising costs and a crowded labor market. State and federal minimum wage has stalled at $7.25 an hour, though many hourly county employees make more than that.
Fitzgerald argued that the ordinance “violates the Home Rule Charter and attempts to usurp authority of the executive branch.”
“Ultimately, this veto is about the separation of powers set up in the county’s Home Rule Charter,” he wrote in a veto letter sent to council. “When this government was set up and approved by the voters, it did not give the legislative body the authority to set pay rates. If council now believes that should change, then they must follow the process outlined in the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law to do so.”
Fitzgerald said he agrees with the need to pay employees a living wage and touted his past work on County Council advocating for living wages for social workers.
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