Municipal Minimum Wage Ordinances in Ohio: A Home Rule Analysis

In 2016, a grassroots proposal in Cleveland, Ohio sought to raise the minimum wage in the City of Cleveland to fifteen dollars per hour. But before Cleveland residents could vote on the proposal, the Ohio legislature enacted Senate Bill 331, prohibiting Ohio municipalities from setting their own minimum wage rates. However, the Ohio Home Rule Amendment gives municipalities the right to self-governance in certain instances, and there is question as to whether the Ohio legislature’s action is a violation of the right to home rule for Ohio cities. This Note evaluates the constitutionality of Senate Bill 331’s minimum wage provision and whether the right to home rule in Ohio extends to municipalities setting their own minimum wage rates. The Note concludes that the Ohio legislature does have the authority to restrict the ability of Ohio cities to set their own minimum wage rates when applying the Ohio Supreme Court’s current test to evaluate home rule disputes