Overriding County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s veto for the second time in a year, council reasserted its right to set pay policies.
by Charlie Wolfson, PublicSource
Update (6/28/23): A week after Allegheny County Council overrode his veto on a bill to set a wage floor for county workers, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald filed a lawsuit against the legislative branch, in an effort to block the ordinance that he says violates the Home Rule Charter.
In a 19-page complaint, Fitzgerald and County Solicitor George Janocsko asked the Court of Common Pleas to insert itself into the legislative dispute because the ordinance “raises a fundamental question concerning the proper operation of County government … namely, who possesses the legal authority to set the wages of County employees under the Home Rule Charter — the Executive Branch or the Legislative Branch of County Government?”
Council voted 10-5 to pass the ordinance in June, requiring the county to pay all of its workers at least $18 per hour in 2024, $19 per hour in 2025 and $20 per hour starting in 2026.
Fitzgerald wrote in a letter to the council that he vetoed the bill because the charter assigns authority over personnel issues and collective bargaining to the executive. The council’s independent solicitor wrote a contradictory legal memo, contending that the legislative branch does in fact have the power to set wages.
Ten of the 15 council members ultimately voted to pass it, and later to override Fitzgerald’s veto.
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