CT House Passes Minimum Wage Increase

HARTFORD, CT — Political battles are heating up as the General Assembly moves into the final weeks of the legislative session. Some bills like the minimum wage increase are causing sharp divides while others passed in a bipartisan fashion.

This legislative session could bring massive law changes in Connecticut, but it's becoming increasingly clear that some major proposals are running into roadblocks. Whether those roadblocks will clear before June 5 remains to be seen.

Below are some recent updates to legislative proposals.

$15 Minimum Wage

The biggest news so far Thursday was the vote on Connecticut's minimum wage. State representatives debated long into the night and into Thursday over a proposal to eventually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. In the end the bill passed the House 85 to 59 after more than 14 hours. It now moves to the Senate.

The amended bill calls for the minimum wage to gradually increase to $15 by 2023 which is slightly longer than the original proposal.

Here is the raise schedule:

• $10.10 currently
• $11 Oct. 1, 2019
• $12 September 2020
• $13 August 2021
• $14 July 2022
• $15 June 2023
• Future increases tied to federal employment cost index

Debate started at 10 p.m. Wednesday and Republicans kept it going for more than 12 hours with warnings that a higher minimum wage would make the state less desirable for businesses.

Future minimum wage increases would be tied to the federal employment cost index.

House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said that a minimum wage increase would benefit 332,000 workers in the state. Although happy the bill passed, he said there was a negative aspect with Republicans asking the same question over and over during debate. He said he is confident the bill will pass the Senate and gain Gov. Ned Lamont’s signature.

Labor Committee Chair State Rep. Robyn Porter (D-New Haven) said she was excited that 332,000 workers would get a raise in October. She said compromises were made after hearing advocates from around the state and that an increase in the minimum wage will help the state economy.

“We must put dignity back into work, there is no such thing as a menial job, menial is in the pay,” Porter said.

The bill won't increase the tipped wage paid to workers like bartenders and wait staff.

Republican House leader Themis Klarides said that Republicans in the past have voted for minimum wage increases, but Connecticut is in a downward economic spiral.

“The numbers speak for themselves, the decline in population, the exodus of business,”she said. “Those are numbers, they are not my opinion or my spin.”

She also said an increase in the minimum wage could lead to greater automation, especially at fast food restaurants where servers could be replaced by touch screen computers for ordering.

“When you are forcing businesses to do one thing after another that makes it difficult for them to do business, they can’t do it anymore… we agree people should be paid as fairly as possible but you can not only look at the fact that we want people to make more money,” Klarides said.

Lamont said he looks forward to signing the bill after it passes the Senate.

"This compromise represents a fair, gradual increase that will improve the lives of working families in our state who struggle to pay for childcare, afford tuition, put food on the table, pay the mortgage, or cover the rent," he said.

One consequence of a higher minimum wage would be making less people eligible for Husky healthcare plans through the state. At the current minimum wage a parent with a family of two would have to work 54 hours a week before becoming ineligible for the state HUSKY A insurance. Under a $15 minimum wage that would drop to 36 hours per week, according to the state Office of Fiscal Analysis.

It would also boost the costs for local governments who employ minimum wage workers. It is estimated to cost Bridgeport an extra $1 million in fiscal year 2023.

If passed Connecticut would join New York, California and Massachusetts and a few other states that will eventually have a $15 minimum wage.

Early Voting

The State Senate passed a resolution that could eventually allow Connecticut voters to decide whether they want early voting. The measure didn’t pass by a super majority, so it must be approved once again in 2021 by both chambers. If that were to happen it would appear on the 2022 ballot as a referendum question.

The House passed the measure 125-24 in April.

If approved by voters then the General Assembly would set up the exact early voting system.

“In today’s economy, it is not realistic to expect every citizen to be able to go to one specific location during a certain set of hours on a Tuesday to cast their ballot,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. “If we truly want more people to be active participants in our democracy, there are many more things we can be doing to make it easier to vote, and early voting is one of them.”

Hemp Program

Gov. Ned Lamont said he would sign a bill into law that would create a pilot program for industrial hemp production. Both the state House and Senate approved it.

“Hemp has the potential to stabilize the agricultural economy and attract new farmers to the industry while providing consumers with a locally grown product that is in high demand,” said state Department of Agriculture Commissioner Brian Hurlburt. “With this vote, we move one giant step closer to the legalization of hemp and all the benefits that it can provide.”

Gun Safety

A bill that would ban guns without serial numbers aka “ghost guns” passed the House 108 to 36. It would also ban guns that require the purchaser to finish assembly or those that are homemade or 3-D printed.

Another bill that requires the safe storage of all firearms in a home with a resident under 18-years-old passed the House 127 to 16. It requires all firearms whether loaded or unloaded to be secured.

The bill is also known as “Ethan’s Law” named after Ethan Song, who accidentally shot himself while at a neighbor’s house. Song succumbed to his injuries. A juvenile has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the case, but the owner of the gun wasn’t charged because investigators found no evidence the gun was left in a loaded state.

Gambling

Lamont admitted that legalized sports betting won’t happen this year in Connecticut, according to the CT Mirror.

The Mirror reports that Lamont’s administration is looking into a deal that would allow the tribal owners of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun to jointly develop a casino in Bridgeport in exchange for abandoning or reducing its proposal for an East Windsor casino.

Recreational Marijuana

This bill will likely be a nail-biter as its not entirely clear at this point whether it has the votes to pass.

The bill is about 10 votes shy in the House of passing, according to the New Haven Register. There are 16 Democratic legislators who haven’t made a final decision and it is possible that a handful of Republicans would support it.

Tolls

Group No Tolls CT will deliver a petition with 100,000 signatures to Lamont Thursday that is against electronic tolling in Connecticut.

Lamont has made tolls one of his main legislative priorities. Tolls would be on I-84, I-95, I-91 and Route 15. The exact details of tolls aren’t ironed out yet, but Lamont is aiming for an effective 4.4 cents per mile charge for state E-Z Pass holders with a commuter discount.

Lamont has also ramped up criticism of the Republican alternative plan called Prioritize Progress, which would prioritize state bonding for infrastructure improvements. Lamont said the plan is essentially a loan that will 100 percent be paid by future generations of Connecticut residents. He estimates 40 percent of toll revenue would come from out-of-state residents.

Legislative Republicans have been strongly against any tolling plan and especially ones that would have future rates set by bureaucracy. Republican State Senate leader Len Fasano said the toll proposal doesn’t have hard numbers and the process hasn’t been transparent.