Walsh floats $15 Boston minimum wage
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Boston Mayor Marty Walsh plans to explore the idea of a $15 per hour minimum wage in the city.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh plans to explore the idea of a $15 per hour minimum wage in the city, he announced in his second State of the City address on Tuesday evening, seizing on a compensation issue that has gained some traction across the country.
Speaking before a packed audience in Symphony Hall, the mayor took a victory lap on the city's record-breaking development of new homes, the development of the city data system CityScore, lower crime rates across several categories and a 72 percent clearance rate for solving homicides.
The Dorchester Democrat and former member of the House of Representatives also called upon his former colleagues to boost funding for Boston schools.
"For the third straight year, I will send a budget to the City Council that increases school funding, for a total increase of nearly $90 million since I took office," Walsh said. Saying parents are "frustrated" about waiting lists for the city's pre-kindergarten program, Walsh said, "We've stretched funding as far as it can go. And we are not alone. I ask leadership at the State House, and every legislator, to work with Boston, with Lawrence, with Salem, with Attleboro and other cities and towns to expand [access] to high-quality pre-kindergarten. I know we share this priority. Now let's fund it."
A major issue of the 2014 gubernatorial race that was highlighted by Speaker Robert DeLeo in a speech last year, funding for pre-kindergarten has not received the same level of attention over the past several months.
Workers, activists and a few Democratic lawmakers have pushed proposals for a $15 per hour minimum wage at Logan Airport and among the state's big box stores and major fast food restaurants. In 2014, the mayor of Seattle signed a $15 minimum wage ordinance, and Walsh received rousing applause for his plans to study the idea of a $15 minimum wage in Boston.
"It's a task force to look at it, and also we don't have the ability in the city of Boston to raise the minimum wage. It has to be a legislative change the way the law is today," Walsh said. He said, "If we had the ability from the Legislature it would be a city of Boston minimum wage."
The statewide minimum wage of $10 an hour is scheduled to rise to $11 on Jan. 1, 2017.
On his way out of the concert hall, Gov. Charlie Baker noted the recent "pretty comprehensive" minimum wage increase, signed by his predecessor, and an increase in the earned income tax credit that he backed and signed.
"I think we're certainly headed in the right directions on those," Baker said. The governor deferred to the mayor's task force on a Boston minimum wage and said "I think he's mostly interested at this point in having a conversation in his community, and as a former local official I'm a big believer in local communities working on stuff on their own terms and in their own way."
On Walsh's budgetary ask for early childhood education funding, Baker told reporters, "We're still working on the details around the budget, but that's certainly been a priority for us. We increased early childhood education funding last year by about $12 million, and we'll have a lot more to say about that obviously when we file our budget."
Asked if last year's increased funding was inadequate, Walsh said, "Clearly it didn't get... universal pre-K; if it did, I wouldn't be asking for it tonight." Walsh also noted the "budget challenges" at the state.
While Boston's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics occupied much of the mayor's second year in office, Walsh did not mention that issue in his speech.
"Why would I? So you could write about it?" Walsh replied when asked about the Olympics' absence.
Sara Myerson, who was appointed executive director of the Office of Olympic Planning last April, is taking over as planning director for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Walsh announced in his speech.
The mayor also announced establishment of an Office of Housing Stability, "to develop resources for tenants, incentives for landlords who do the right thing, and partnerships with developers to keep more of our housing stock affordable."
Walsh said the city would convert more than six acres into new parks, "completely renovate" Ramsay Park and make Boston's parks the nation's "most inclusive."
The Boston Public Library will receive a new entrance on Boylston Street and the city will invest $1 million in local artists, Walsh said.
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