DC City Councilmember Vincent Orange was handed an embarrassing defeat on Tuesday night after serving on the City Council for 17 years. Orange was one of the leaders behind D.C.’s push for a $15 minimum wage, which studies and surveys alike show will bedetrimental to the District’s economy.
With his loss, Councilor Orange’s dangerous liberal agenda should stop dead in its tracks. Voters have repudiated him at the ballot box and it would be irresponsible for him to pursue dangerous policies that the people of D.C. have indicated that they don’t support.
Reports indicate Orange may try to push new scheduling and hours legislation that would be, “disastrous for the city’s ongoing growth,” according to restaurant and retail experts.
In fact, an Economic Policy Institute study found that the legislation, “would result in job losses and less flexibility for workers,” and if the legislation was passed, half of all businesses said they would just eliminate jobs altogether.
The legislation would mandate businesses to post hourly schedules three weeks in advance which is impractical and the EPI’s study found this would not even help the vast majority of the workforce.
But the study released Monday by the fiscally conservative Economic Policies Institute finds that just 14 percent of the affected workers are working part-time involuntarily. Half of affected businesses told researchers they would cut jobs altogether if the bill is approved.
Combine this legislation’s disastrous effects with Orange’s loss on Tuesday and it makes no sense for him to continue pushing it as a lame duck. To do so would be a direct rebuke of the District’s voice and would also continue to crush job creation and economic growth in the city.