Lawmakers in the Connecticut House of Representatives are expected to vote Wednesday on a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour over the next three years.
The Appropriations Committee advanced the proposal to increase Connecticut’s minimum wage from its current $10.10 an hour to $12 an hour in 2020, $13.50 an hour in 2021, and $15 an hour by 2022.
“Anybody who thinks that $15 an hour is going to be the sole job of someone who has to pay rent and food is mistaken. This is not a living wage,” said committee co-chair and Democratic State Senator Cathy Osten.
The committee’s Republican minority voted against the bill.
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said the Democratic caucus will consider some changes to the bill before the House vote.
“We will be at four years to reach $15 an hour. We will allow for a youth employment exemption. I’m open to that, and I really think we should. And the tip credit is yet to be determined.”
The tip credit is a state law that allows employers of hotel and restaurant workers, who receive gratuities, to count their tips as a percentage of their minimum wage requirement.
Aresimowicz says some members of his caucus would like to get rid of this provision, but he says a compromise might be reached.
