May 8, 2017

For Immediate Release

Prince George’s County Councilman Mel Franklin Endorses Two-Year Budget Request of Developmental Disabilities Organizations to Support Wages

Prince George’s County Provider Council Reports Need for $3.5 Million in Each of the Next Two Fiscal Years in Bridge Funding Due to Local Minimum Wage Law

Contact: Mel@melfranklin.net

Upper Marlboro, MD – Today, County Councilman Mel Franklin (D-District 9) endorsed the two-year $7 million ($3.5 million per fiscal year) “gap” or bridge grant funding request of the Prince George’s County Provider Council, a coalition of over two dozen organizations in the County that care for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The funds would prevent losses in employment by assisting providers in compensating for the widening gap between state and local minimum wage laws over the next two fiscal years.  The State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) provides wage support to developmentally disabled providers for state minimum wage requirements, but does not provide such assistance for local minimum wage requirements that are higher than the state minimum wage, which is currently $8.75 per hour and will reach $10.10 per hour on July 1, 2018.  The local minimum wage in Prince George’s County and Montgomery County is $10.75 per hour and will reach $11.50 per hour on October 1, 2017.  Councilman Franklin issued the following statement:

“The organizations who serve our residents who are overcoming intellectual and developmental disabilities are truly essential to the quality of life of thousands of families across our County.  The work they do is difficult and challenging, but words cannot convey the love with which they provide the incredible support that our developmentally disabled community needs.  I know that the wages that these organizations provide their employees are critical to maintaining a high quality workforce in one of the world’s most expensive regions to live and I recognize the gap created by the difference between our local minimum wage and the state’s lower minimum wage, particularly over the next two years.  I am happy to support the Prince George’s County Provider Council’s two-year request for temporary funding to ensure that developmentally disabled providers can provide their employees with wages for the critical services that they provide.”

The County Council holds its final budget public hearing tonight, May 8, 2017, 7:00p.m. at the County Administration Building, 14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772, First Floor Hearing Room.  A large presence from the Prince George’s County Provider Council is expected.

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