In his latest TV ad, which is set to begin airing this week, mayoral candidate Bill Freeman is calling for a hike in the Davidson County minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 an hour over the next three years.
“As mayor I will support a gradual increase of the minimum wage to lift tens of thousands of families out of poverty,” Freeman says, looking at the camera. “It’s long past time and it’s the right thing to do. “
It marks a departure from January when Freeman was
asked by WPLN about his support for a local minimum wage.
“I haven’t really thought about that,” he said in January. ” Different than the federal minimum wage? I don’t know that that’s a good idea. “
In a statement to
The Tennessean, Freeman acknowledge his change of heart.
“I previously thought that if Davidson County were to act alone, it would put us at a competitive disadvantage with other counties,” he said. “But those fears are unfounded and unsupported by the experience of other cities.”
Raising the local minimum wage would also require action by the General Assembly, which put a statute into effect in 2013, making it against state law to require city contractors to pay more than the federal minimum wage.
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