Minimum Wage Hike Stalls

Hartford— The quest to raise Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage gradually from $10.10 to $15 by 2022 stalled Tuesday, as one of two versions of the proposal was killed in legislative committee. 

The state legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee voted on two versions of the proposal, one for the State Senate, the other for the House of Representatives.

Originally scheduled for noon, the vote was pushed back two hours after both Republicans and Democrats on the committee requested extra time to caucus on the bills.

After reconvening, the 13 members of the committee split their votes along party lines.

Sen. Craig Miner requested a ​“split vote” — meaning that only the committee’s four senators, who are evenly split along party lines, would vote on the Senate version of the proposal. GOP Sens.Miner and Michael McLachlan voted against the measure; Democratic Sens. Ed Gomes and Catherine Osten voted for it. With a tied vote, the proposed bill died in committee rather than advance to the Senate floor.

Miner represents Brookfield, Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington, Warren, and Winchester; McLachlan represents Danbury and New Fairfield. Gomes represents Bridgeport and Stratford; Osten represents Columbia, Franklin, and Hebron.

The House version of the bill did make it out of committee. Motioning to give the bill a joint favorable report—meaning members of the committee vote together — members of the committee voted again on party lines. And Democrats outnumber Republicans. Voting against the bill were Reps. Mike Bocchino and Kurt Vail of Greenwich, Richard Smith of Danbury and New Fairfield, David Rutigliano of Trumbull and Sens. Miner and McLachlan. Voting for it were Reps. Al Paolillo and Robyn Porter of New Haven, Christopher Rosario of Bridgeport, Robert Sanchez of New Britain, Edwin Vargas of Hartford, and Sens. Gomes and Osten. The bill will now move forward to the House, and then the Senate if it receives a favorable vote.

The death of the Senate version makes it unlikely that the minimum wage hike will pass this session. The vote drew a rebuke from State Senate President Martin Looney of New Haven.

“Today, we learned that the detached and divided public spirit of President Donald Trump is alive and well right here in Connecticut, as the Connecticut Senate Republicans’ first official act under our new, bipartisan power-sharing agreement was to turn their backs on some of the hardest working and most needy people of Connecticut by dividing the Labor and Public Employees Committee to block the Senate version of the minimum wage bill. Fortunately, the House version was adopted on a party-line vote with all Democrats in support and all Republicans opposed,” Looney, a Democrat, stated in a release issued after the vote. ​“Thousands upon thousands of Connecticut families work minimum wage jobs. For parents trying to make ends meet, for the blue collar workers hanging sheetrock or changing your oil, for single moms working two or three jobs to provide the basic necessities for their children, there may be no more important and pressing issue than earning a fair, adequate and more ​‘livable’ hourly wage. A sufficient minimum wage for the working people of Connecticut is not some sort of luxury — it is an absolute necessity,” Looney continued.

Before votes on both proposed bills, Republican committee members expressed concern — as they did in last week’s public hearing—that a raise in the minimum wage would spell disaster for both small and large businesses in the state.

“The minimum wage is not a fix-all, end-all. We understand that,” said McLachlan, who said a raise could harm small businesses and not-for-profits. ​“We have to come to the reality that Connecticut is an economic disaster. We have to stop pushing out our businesses.”

“What happens to the [people at] level two, three, four in jobs?” he continued, asking if committee members supporting the bill had considered the ramifications of a raise in the minimum wage on jobs that pay more. ​“You’re talking about a 50 percent increase … foisting upon small businesses an expectation to increase payroll. Stop sending a shot across the bough of businesses in Connecticut.”

Smith, who represents Danbury, agreed. ​“The ones who are hurt most by these [bills] are the local guys,” he said. ​“Ten people and under. It’s the hardware stores and the local grocer. The other small businesses — they’re leaving.”

“People are leaving Connecticut because of policies that are coming out of this legislature” he added. ​“Everybody knows that this is not a living wage. But this is not how we get people out of poverty.”

Vargas disagreed vehemently. He argued that a minimum wage increase would keep small businesses — and large ones — in the state by rebuilding the middle class. He said he sees big corporations ​“like one big vacuum cleaner sucking income out of Connecticut,” Vargas argued.

“Today, you would need $17 an hour to match the 1981 minimum wage,” he said. ​“You cannot continue to depress salaries — most people who think of themselves as middle class are now becoming the working poor. I don’t believe anyone is going to leave the state. Wealthy people would just be treading water … and this will rebuild the middle class.”

Addressing his Republican colleagues, he continued. ​“If Wal-Mart leaves, so be it!” he said. ​“It would be a boon to the small businesses we say we care about.”

Following is a status report on bills of particular interest to New Haven before the state legislature this session:

The 2017 Agenda