Senate says local governments can’t raise minimum wage from $6.55
By JAMES CLARK
Editor for the Southern Standard
(McMinnville, Tenn.)
Local governments would be forbidden from imposing a minimum wage higher than the federal rate of $6.55 an hour under a bill that passed yesterday in the Tennessee Senate.
According to state Sen. Eric Stewart (D-Belvidere), the bill is a response to action in Memphis where officials voted to require a living wage of $10 an hour. Stewart voted against the bill, but says it has nothing to do with his thoughts on minimum wage. “I don’t feel as a state we should go about telling local governments what they should do,” said Stewart. “We ought to be there as a tool to help them, not regulate them. For years I’ve heard how we need smaller government with less control. I don’t think we should usurp the authority of the local elected officials in Shelby County or any other county for that matter.”
A companion bill has been assigned to a House subcommittee. It would have to make its way through the House before it becomes state law. “If you look at it the other way around, it concerns me that someone
from Memphis might think they know what’s best for my community more than I do,” said Stewart, who
added he doesn’t think a higher minimum wage would be appropriate for the counties he represents. “Economically, I think it would make us less attractive for business,” he said.
The Senate bill was sponsored by Senator Paul Stanley (R-Germantown) and it passed 18-13. Stanley says the measure is necessary to prevent wage disparity among counties.