Meriden Rep. Proposes Minimum Wage Hike (with poll)

Can you live on $8.25 an hour in Connecticut?

A group of Democratic state legislators, including House Speaker Chris Donovan (D) of Meriden, says the current $8.25 per hour minimum wage in the state – that's $17,160 a year before taxes for those working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year – is just not enough to keep workers and their families afloat. More of whom, they say, are getting minimum wage jobs after being laid off from higher-wage industries.

Donovan and other state representatives from Southington, Bridgeport and Stonington announced their plan at a Tuesday press conference to propose boosting the state's minimum wage to $9 per hour this year, and $9.75 per hour next year in the upcoming legislative session. Their planned legislation would also "index" minimum wage going forward to the cost of living – so the wage would automatically increase when cost of living does. 

"More families than ever are relying on low-wage and minimum wage jobs
to make ends meet," Donovan said at the conference, according to a press statement. "That leaves them struggling. While most job losses in the recession hit higher wage sectors like construction, manufacturing and finance hard, much of the new job growth has been concentrated disproportionately in low-wage industries."

The legislators say that the increase will help both those working minimum wage jobs, and the overall economy by putting more dollars into workers' pockets to be spent, "which in turn helps to create jobs at local businesses needed to meet increased demand," Donovan said.

But some local small business owners disagree.

"A lot of businesses are closing down. You're not going to solve the problem by raising minimum wages by a dollar,"  said Bryan Balik, who owns the Green Olive Diner on South Broad Street in Meriden. "Lower the taxes, that will stimulate the economy."

Balik, reached by phone Tuesday, said he employs between 6 and 10 people at a time at the diner, and four employees, his dishwashers, make minimum wage. Increasing their wages, he said, would be another burden on the diner in a time when business is already slow because of the poor economy.

Other small business owners support the proposal. Barbara Stasiak, the owner of Bridal Bells Boutique in Berlin, joined Democratic leaders at the press conference at the capitol. 

"I challenge anyone, business owner or otherwise, who opposes a minimum wage increase to try to live on $8.25 an hour," Stasiak said, adding that she pays her current employees above minimum wage. "A fair and living wage keeps employees loyal and productive. Paying a fair wage hasn't hurt my business, it's helped it."

Governor Dannel Malloy said he did not support the proposal at this point. He said in a Tuesday conference call that he wanted to see how the changes his administration has already put into place would affect workers.

"I think I've addressed previously some of the concerns that they're raising, and specifically creating an earned income tax credit. and also creating a system of unpaid sick time. I'm very anxious that those things be built into our system and that we understand the impacts of that system," Malloy said. "Obviously I'll watch the legislative debate. This is not an initiative that I've ruled out, I'll watch the debate, I'll reserve judgement."

The last minimum wage increase in Connecticut was in Jan. 2010, when it was raised from $8 per hour to $8.25, according to legislators. Minimum wage is currently $8 in Massachussetts, $7.25 in New York, and $7.40 in Rhode Island, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

According to the 2012 federal poverty guidelines, at Connecticut's current rate, a single parent with two children working 40 hours a week at 52 weeks a year at minimum is below the poverty level, Stonington Rep. Diana Urban said in the conference. 

"...That is simply shameful," Urban said.

The federal poverty line for a three-person family this year is $19,090. For one it's $11,170, for two it's $15,130, for four it's $23,050 and for five it's $27,010, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A person working a 40-hour-a week minimum wage job in Connecticut would make $17,160 a year if they worked 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year.