Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Minnesota Supreme Court to Decide Who Makes the Call on a $15/hour Minimum Wage Rate for the City of Minneapolis

August 2016


Following a trend of cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Minneapolis is considering creating a $15/hour minimum wage for employees working in the city.  Who gets to decide the issue, however, is the subject of considerable debate that has gone all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court. 

Advocates for a higher minimum wage collected the signatures required to place the question on the November ballot, as an amendment to the city charter, but the Minneapolis City Council opposed the measure, instead wanting the discretion to decide the issue as an ordinance passed by the Council.  A state trial court judge sided with the advocates, and ruled that the question should be included on the ballot to be voted on by the residents of Minneapolis.  Given the obvious time constraints, the Supreme Court has agreed to decide the issue on appeal directly from the trial court.


The Court’s decision in this case could have far reaching effects, for Minneapolis and other Minnesota cities.  If the Court rules that the city charter can be amended for this sort of issue, advocacy groups may be encouraged to take further measures to establish other terms of employment that apply only locally, through the referendum process.  Some Council members (and no doubt many business owners) have expressed concerns about the economic impact of addressing the minimum wage at the city-level, including that establishing a much higher minimum wage rate of $15 in Minneapolis, when the state minimum wage is $9.50 for large employers, could potentially make the city less competitive with surrounding communities.  If the Supreme Court decides to leave this decision to the voters, hopefully they will become fully informed of all sides of the issue before deciding on such an important issue.