Living wage advocates have planned a vigil at the historic downtown courthouse to take place prior to Tuesday’s Metro Council meeting. The rally will feature faith, labor and community leaders in support of at-large Councilwoman Megan Barry’s memorializing resolution [1] on the issue of living wage.
Barry’s nonbinding resolution, which unanimously passed the Council budget and finance committee meeting Monday, would state Council’s opposition to state legislation aimed at pre-empting local governments from passing living wage laws.
Barry said she intends to tackle the issue of bringing living wage law to Metro in the coming months. A Vanderbilt University study last year stated the living wage in Nashville should be $10.55.
Memphis and Shelby County have already passed living wage laws.
Minimum wage as provided by the federal government is $6.55, which is more than $8,000 below the federal poverty line for a full-time working family of four.
Convention Center legislation to be deferred
The resolution authorizing an intergovernmental agreement between Metro government and the Metro Development and Housing Agency to begin land purchasing in the SoBro area site to be used for the proposed Music City Center will be deferred, sponsor Tim Garrett said.
The at-large Councilman said he will defer the legislation to track with the other bills, on first reading at tonight’s Council meeting, which would clear the way for $75 million worth of tourism taxes to be used for land acquisition.
Links:
[1] http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/metro-councilwoman-tackles-living-wage-condemns-state-legislation