The General Assembly asserted itself in June on a controversial issue of particular importance to seniors who still work. We voted to override Governor Rell’s veto of a bill to raise Connecticut’s minimum wage. It usually takes two branches of state government to make a law but this issue prompted this extraordinary display of resolve.
An estimated 65,000 Connecticut workers – many of them seniors – are paid the current minimum wage of $7.65 per hour, which hasn’t changed in over 18 months. In that time the cost for many essential things, gasoline, electricity, and home heating oil, to list just a few, has spiraled. The new minimum wage of $8.00 per hour, effective January 1, will help them – even if only a little – cope with a much higher cost of living.
Our new law also provides for an increase to $8.25 per hour the following January 1, following a recent pattern: the state’s minimum wage was increased in 2003 and in 2004, skipped a year, and then was increased again in 2006 and 2007.
Assuming a minimum wage worker is on-the-clock 40 hours per week, this increase amounts to $14 per week, just enough to buy a couple gallons of gas at today’s prices. No one among us expects this increase to resolve all the difficulties of people in our state who live and work on the economic margins. But this modest increase will make a positive difference in their day-to-day lives.
The 35-cent per hour increase, which doesn’t take effect for another six months, was vetoed by the governor because she said it would burden the state’s businesses during this current economic downturn. The veto override places the needs of workers above the nominal cost to business owners. In fact, recent studies suggest increasing the minimum wage does not adversely affect employment rates.
Furthermore, according to the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the gap between the wealthy and the poor is growing faster in Connecticut than in any other state. Clearly, the vast majority of legislators were compelled to act sooner rather than later.
This minimum wage issue is an issue of simple fairness – when a worker takes home around $300 per week an extra $10 or so helps. And in my opinion, economically vulnerable minimum wage-earning Connecticut residents can use all the help they can get.
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