The Connecticut Low Wage Employer Advisory Board has recommended raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour “gradually and over a reasonable period of time,” according to a report released Thursday.
The board says that time frame should be set by the state legislature, but could be based on a similar path set for Westchester County and Long Island, N.Y. In that time frame, the minimum wage increases $1 a year. In Connecticut, the $15-an-hour threshold would be reached by Jan. 1, 2022, the board said.
A press conference was held at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford at 1 p.m., where workers led by State Rep. Peter Tercyak (D-New Britain) and Sen. Ed Gomes (D-Bridgeport) backed the $15 minimum wage.
“Too many Connecticut residents work full-time but live in poverty. Raising the minimum wage to $15 over five years will greatly reduce the number that do,” said James Bhandary-Alexander, the chair of the CT Low Wage Employer Advisory Board. “And dollar-for-dollar, there is no better way to invest in the economy of the state than by putting money in the hands of our low-income families, who will spend it right here in Connecticut.”
The board was established by law in 2015 and held its first meetings this year. The panel is charged with advising the Labor Commissioner, as well as state departments of Social Services and Developmental Services, and the Office of Early Childhood, on wage issues, public assistance programs, and working conditions for the workforce, among other matters.
Andrew Markowski, Connecticut state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, called support for the $15 minimum wage “unsustainable.”
Markowski issued a written response, saying the minimum wage was “never intended to feed entire families, nor is it something that people should strive to earn. It is an entry level wage designed to give those with little prior experience a place to start.”
Markowski also noted such a “high” minimum wage would hurt its members.
“We should all be focusing our energy on reducing regulations and creating a fiscal environment where job creators can hire additional people, not leave them questioning whether or not they can continue to pay those that they already employ,” Markowski said.
