Council President Introducing Local Hiring Bill

City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young will introduce a bill requiring at least 51 percent of new jobs created by a city contract of more than $300,000 or a project receiving $5 million in subsidies to be filled by city residents.

The bill entitled the "Finance and Procurement—Local Hiring" will be introduced during the City Council’s hearing scheduled for 5 p.m., Monday at City Hall, according to a news release.

"Baltimore must move beyond relying on the good faith efforts of contractors to ensure that residents have access to employment opportunities," Young said in the release. "City government must ensure that our residents, labor leaders and contractors join together to finally make local hiring a priority as we seek to grow our city and its economy."

Ian Brennan, a spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, said in an email the administration had just receieved a copy of the bill until this morning and couldn't comment on specifics. 

"We look forward to looking closely at the bill as part of the legislative process.  Mayor Rawlings-Blake and the City Council have worked hard to increase job opportunities for City residents on contracts through the Mayor's Employ Baltimore initiative. It requires contractors to work with the City's Office of Employment Development [to] match employment with qualified city residents. and there's always room for improvement," Brennan wrote in the email.

Baltimore has suffered from the highest unemployment rate in the state. According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor statistics from September, the latestest figures available, the city had an unemployment rate of at least 10.1 percent.    

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