Minimum Wage Increase Coming Soon in Connecticut: New Proposal Seeks Significant Rise

A government-appointed panel is recommending that Connecticut eventually raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The state minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $10.10 from the current $9.60 at the beginning of 2017.

The Low Wage Advisory Board recommends that it increase to $15 in gradual steps by 2022.

The Board concluded that $15 an hour would provide basic economic security and cover a modest standard of living for Connecticut residents, although it wouldn’t raise everyone out of poverty or eliminate the need for government assistance.

“In the opinion of the Board, the current Connecticut minimum wage is well below that needed for basic economic security, and a majority feels that it should be raised gradually to $15 over the next several years,” the board wrote in its report.

New York State passed a $15 minimum wage law. All workers in New York City businesses will see the $15 wage by 2019, while workers in two Long Island counties and Westchester County would see it by 2021. The rest of the state will have a $12.50 minimum wage by the end of 2020 and will increase to $15 based on an indexed schedule.

California also passed a $15-per-hour minimum wage law.

The board held several hearings where people who made at or close to the minimum wage shared their stories. One mother said she had to work two full-time jobs and only saw her 10-year-old son once a week. A certified nurse’s aide who worked seven days a week still had to rely on state-subsidized Husky health insurance for herself and two children.

The “Fight for $15” movement that is spreading across the country isn’t without its opponents. Former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi wrote in a Forbes opinion piece that the demand for higher wages is driving the restaurant chain to explore automated ordering kiosks that could cut down on the number of needed workers.

The 2015 state Self-Sufficiency Standard shows that a single parent with one pre-school-aged child would have to earn between $21.14 and $36.84 per hour to cover all housing, health care and other basic needs.

The board also concluded that hundreds of thousands of families living on an upgraded minimum wage would disproportionately spend to meet basic needs and bolster the economy.