Paul Bass Photo
Lemar, Wharton in the WNHH studio.
State legislators Tuesday have a chance to help the low-wage people who most need a break in Connecticut — or else to sock it to small business owners who need a break more.
Those two takes on a scheduled vote by the legislature’s Labor Committee came Monday from GOP Town Chair Jonathan Wharton and New Haven Democratic State Rep. Roland Lemar during a lively series of debates on WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
In this case they were discussing a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by the year 2022. They also differed on another proposal, by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, tho raise taxes on a pack of cigarettes by 45 cents (to reach a total cost of $4.35). Click here and here to read background stories on those proposals. And continue reading here for excerpts from the Wharton-Lemar radio exchanges:
Who Needs A Break Most?
Lemar: What you’re seeing is a greater recognition of the gains of the last few years. The economy has rebounded, unemployment has come down, worker productivity is up. All of the gains are being realized by the top quarter percentile, mostly in the top 1 percentile, of all income earners. As we’ve moved more toward low-wage employment, service employment, the minimum wage has not kept up with the original construct of a living wage, to support a family.
Nineteen to $21 an hour is needed [to support a family in Connecticut], the over $22 [with two or more kids].
We are not proposing to get to that wage. We do not see a path forward on that. We think there may be some economic loss at that level of growth. We should be aiming to get there.
Wharton: We’re not just thinking about McDonald’s. We’re thinking about small business. There are a number of small business owners who are Republicans. That is the concern that we’re hearing out there.
On top of all this you still have to be concerned about the additional benefits that come with the position — health care, ACA and other benefits.
Lemar: All of the folks who testified against [gradually raising] the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 were testifying against raising it to $10.10 a few years ago.
If I were to raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour tomorrow, yeah, there’d be dramatic economic impact …
Wharton: … and likely a coup.
Lemar: Slow and steady increases in the minimum wage are appropriate. What we allow — we’re picking up the associated health care costs, housing, insurance … on the government side — because of low wages!
Wharton: The cost of doing business in this state is tremendously and financially problematic. You’re getting a lot of pushback. It’s impossible for most people to live here, particularly people who own businesses.
Everyone deserves some kind of break here. But to be fair, so do the business owners. It’s no secret that we’re losing a lot of business. We’re not attracting too many.
Lemar: What small business owners need more than anything are increased numbers of customers with money in their pocket.
Wharton: How’s that possible when you have all this money taken out of people’s pockets to pay taxes in this state? My god, car taxes, property taxes, income taxes, this fee, that fee … do you have to to get the gun issue now?
Lemar: If the Walton family makes less in profits to take back to Arkansas, and instead we’re paying the Walton family’s employees here in Connecticut more money to spend here at local businesses, that’s good for Connecticut. Yes, minimum-wage workers [work at] small businesses. There are also large corporate businesses that are doing everything they can to pay their employee low-based wages to have the state of Connecticut to pay the associated health care costs, transportation costs.
Sin Tax? Or Sin To Tax
Wharton: I am outraged by this [proposed45-cent-per-pack cigarette tax hike]. But am I surprised by this? No. I think It’s another attempt by Democrats to just tax and go after everything they can can go after.
WNHH: Wait a minute. We have a $1.7 billion projected deficit. You think everything should be just cut?
Wharton: I think everything should be thought out first.
Certainly not going after a particular population like smokers or gun owners or — who knows? — anyone who sins apparently. This is President’s Day. So I want to quote a particular form president, Abraham Lincoln. I love this quote: “It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.”
It makes me wonder , this whole thing about going after people who are sinning, as though they can afford it …
WNHH: So let’s go after rich people …
Wharton: We don’t already? Connecticut doesn’t as it is?
Lemar: We study … the amount of taxes people are paying on their level of income. It isa fact the less money you make, the more you pay [proportionately] in taxes.
So any regressive tax does impact those individuals even more. That is a consideration we all have to have in play.
The second part of this, the reason if we had to vote on this tomorrow I’d vote yes, is we have to stop people from starting smoking. The number one way to prevent people from picking up their first cigarette is increasing the price. Is that the proper role of government? I’m not sure.
Wharton: It’s so minor. It’s going to impact so many people in the inner cities. Whatever [lawmakers] find, they’re going to go after …
Click on or download the above audio file to hear the full episode of “Dateline New Haven” with GOP Town Chair Jonathan Wharton and Roland Lemar. They also discussed the proposal to tax Yale-New Haven Hospital (they’re both against that) and to reduce the earned income tax credit (they’re against that, too), as well as the newly approved $160 million Audubon Square project. (They both like that one.)
The 2017 Agenda
| Bill # | Status | Summary | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|
| SB11/ HB5539 | Committee Denied | Would legalize, tax recreational use of marijuana. | Candelaria Dillon Lemar Walker Porter et al |
| SB 17 | Committee Approved | Would make certain undocumented immigrant students (DREAMers) eligible for state college financial aid. | Looney |
| HB 5434 | Committee Approved | Would have CT join with other states to elect the President based on popular, rather than Electoral College, vote. | Winfield, Porter Albis Elliott D’Agostino et al. |
| HB 5458, HB 6058 | Committee Approved | Would establish electronic tolls on state highways. | Genga |
| HB 5575/HB 7126 | Passed Senate | Would regulate companies such as Uber and Lyft. | Scanlon |
| HB 5589 | Passed House | Would expand disclosure requirements for contributions to campaign funds. | Dillon Lemar D’Agostino Elliott et al. |
| HB 5591 | Passed House | Would require equal pay for employees doing comparable work. | Dillon Walker Lemar Albis D’Agostino Elliott et al. |
| HB 5703 | Committee Denied | Would have CT enter into an agreement with other states to limit “poaching” of each other’s businesses. | Lemar |
| HJ 13/HJr 95 | Passed House | Would amend the state constitution to permit early voting. | Lemar |
| HJ 16 | In Commitee | Would amend the state constitution to permit absentee voting for all voters. | Lemar |
| SB 1/HB 6212 | Committee Approved | Would require employers to provide paid family and medical leave for their employees. | Looney |
| SB 2 | Committee Approved | Would make the education funding formula more equitable. | Duff |
| SB 8 | Committee Denied | Would allow municipalities to adopt a 0.5% sales tax. | Looney |
| SB 10/HB 5743 | Passed Senate | Would strengthen hate crime laws. | Winfield |
| SB 13/HB 6208/HB 6456 | Committee Approved | Would increase the minimum wage. | Looney Winfield et al. Albis Candelaria D’Agostino Elliott Lemar Paolillo Porter Walker |
| SB 137 | Committee Denied | Would expand birth-to-three and provide universal pre-school, among other things. | Gerratana |
| SJ 5/HJ 1 | Passed House | Would amend the state constitution to create a “lock-box” for transportation funding. | Duff |
| HB 5588 | Committee Denied | Would limit certain bond allocations. | Dillon Lemar Albis Walker Elliott et al. |
| HB 5912HB 6127 | Committee Denied | Would establish a 1‑cent/ounce tax on sugared beverages. | Lemar Elliott et al. |
| HB 6554 | Committee Denied | Would tax carried interest as ordinary income. | Porter Albis Lemar Elliott Winfield Candelaria Dillon D’Agostino et al. |
| HB 5831 | Committee Denied | Would provide bonding for transitional housing for NH female ex- offenders. | Porter Candelaria Lemar Winfield Looney Paolillo |
| SB 631 | Committee Denied | Would provide bonding to make structural improvements to the Shubert Theatre. | Winfield Looney Walker Porter Lemar Candelaria Paolillo |
| HB 6863 | Committee Denied | Would authorize bonds for renovating the Barbell Club as a youth/ community center. | Canelaria Porter Paolillo Lemar Winfield |
| SB 649 | Committee Approved | Would allow local building officials to impose fines for building w/o a permit. | Looney Winfield Walker Candelaria Lemar Porter Paolillo Et al. |
| SB 590/591 | Committee Denied | Would limit police ccoperation w/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (590); establish an immigrant’s bill of rights | Winfield |
| SB 20 | Committee Denied | Would require affordability to be considered in reviewing proposed health insurance rate hikes. | Looney |
| HB 6352 | Committee Approved | Would establish a deposit system for car tires. | Ritter Gresko McCrory |
| HB 6901 | Committee Denied | Would impose a surtax on large employers that pay an average wage less than $15/hour. | Elliott |
| HB 7278 | Passed Senate | Would convey various parcels to New Haven, among other things. | Gov’t Administration and Elections |