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WEBVTT >> I BELIEVE IT IS IN THE BESTINTEREST OF THE CITY THAT WEFOLLOW THE STATE.SO I AM VETOING THIS BILL.KATE MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH: ANNOUNCED HER DECISION TO VETOTHE $15 AN HOUR MINIMUM WAGEBILL, FOUR DAYS AFTER IT PASSEDTHE CITY COUNCIL BY ANOVERWHELMING MARGIN.BUT PUGH SAYS THE MEASURE WOULDDEAL BALTIMORE A SEVERE ECONOMICBLOW AS THE CITY IS ALREADYGRAPPLING WITH OTHER BIG BILLSLIKE SCHOOLS AND THE CONSENTDECREE AND SHE SAYS, IT'S TOORISKY TO GO IT ALONE.>> THE OTHER JURISDICTIONSAROUND US ARE WAITING ON THESTATE.AND WE WILL DO THE SAME.KATE THE MAYOR'S MOVE ON THIS: FRIDAY AFTERNOONSHOCKED THE BILL'S LEAD SPONSOR.>> THIS IS AN IMPROMPTU RESPONSEBECAUSE WE ARE WERE TAKEN BYSURPRISE.>> IT'S DISHEARTENING TO SEE, TOKNOW, THAT THE BILL GOT VETOED.>> FRANKLY THIS IS VERY, DISAPPOINTING.KATE: ESPECIALLY CLARK ANDCOLLEAGUES SAY SINCE THEY MADESO MANY CONCESSIONS,DIDN'T INCLUDE TIPPED WAGESINCREASED SMALL BUSINESS SIZE TOAND UNDER 50 EMPLOYEES, GAVEGAVE THEM TILL 2020 62 ARRIVE AT$15 AN HOUR.>> SHAME, SHAME ON LETTING THEPOVERTY THAT WE HAVE LIVED WITHSHAMEFULLY FOR DECADES OF THEWORKING POOR CONTINUE ON.KATE THE NEXT STEP, SHE SAYS, IS: THE ONLY STEP REMAINING, TOCOUNT VOTES, THEY NEED 12 TOOVERRIDE THE VETO.IF SHE HAS THEM SHE'LL BRING ITBEFORE THE COUNCIL BY MID-MAY.AT THE LATEST.

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Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh announced Friday that she has vetoed the City Council's bill to raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 an hour by 2022.Download the WBAL appThe City Council voted 11-3 Monday evening in favor of the bill. Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, the bill's co-sponsor, considers the legislation a good start toward chipping away at poverty.Workers have welcomed the increase, but some retailers said the increase would put them out of business. The bill exempts workers under 21, gives businesses with less than 50 employees until 2026 to comply and didn't include tipped wages.Pugh said during a news conference Friday afternoon that her decision was based on following the lead of the state, which has similar minimum wage legislation and on economic factors.Pugh said she made up her mind after days of debate, lots of research and lots of conversations with clergy, nonprofits, and county executives."So for those reasons, and the economic impact I think this has on the city, making us the hole in the doughnut, it is not appropriate at this time that I would sign this bill, so I am vetoing this bill," Pugh said.She said the negative economic impact of the measure is just too severe, too expensive for a city staring down big bills for the school system and Department of Justice consent decree, and too risky to go it alone."The other jurisdictions around us are waiting on the state, and we will do the same," Pugh said.Pugh's move shocked Clarke."This is an impromptu response because we all were taken by surprise," Clarke said.Clarke and her council colleagues said they made so many concessions."Shame, shame on letting the poverty that we have lived with shamefully for decades of the working poor continue on," Clarke said.Pugh said she hasn't had any lengthy conversations with business owners. Penny Trautner, owner of Light City Cycles, is watching the process closely. "Some businesses, I think, would have been helped, and they didn't know it," Trautner said. The small business owner told 11 News that she supports the bill but there's no way to know whether it would help or hurt the city's economy. "One thing you can tell, you can say that someone who is working a 40-hour-a-week job had a better chance of supporting themselves," Trautner said. Donald Fry, president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee, said city leaders should shift their focus from raising wages to creating career pathways. "So that they can have more skills more training and move up a ladder in a career path, whether it be through STEM jobs or through middle-skill jobs, which we really think is going to be one of the biggest opportunities in this region in the next 10 years," Fry said. "Minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage or a family-sustaining wage."Pugh said the fight should continue at the state level, and she stressed that the minimum wage will still increase statewide to $9.25 on July 1, and to $10.10 in 2018."There is a bill in Annapolis currently pushing for this, so while it may not take place this year or next year, I will follow the lead of the state," Pugh said.Clarke said a possible veto override could come in mid-May if she has enough support. "The chair and I will be talking to members about that very thing. That's almost all we have left. We need 12 votes to override the veto," Clarke said.Also on WBALTV.com: