WEST HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut’s minimum wage is set to increase by more than 50 cents next year as state residents contend with rising costs for life’s necessities.
Gov. Ned Lamont and members of his administration, along with state and local leaders and advocates, announced the increase outside the Big Y Supermarket in West Hartford Wednesday morning.
The state’s minimum hourly wage will increase Jan. 1 from $16.94 to $17.48, an increase of 54 cents, or 3.2%. The increase is the result of Public Act 19-4, passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Lamont in 2019. The law increased the state’s minimum wage from $10.10 to $15 over four years, and starting in 2024 required the wage to be increased annually based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index (ECI).
According to its website, the ECI measures the change in the hourly labor cost to employers over time, using a fixed “basket” of labor to produce a pure cost change, free from the effects of workers moving between occupations or industries and includes both the cost of wages and benefits.
Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo said the increase works out to an additional $21.60 a week for earners working 40 hours a week. According to Bartolomeo, the increase will affect between 160,000 to 200,000 workers and their families.
“The law reflects Connecticut’s commitment to low-wage workers, 60% of whom are women and people of color,” she said. “Low-wage workers often feel increased costs first, the hardest, as a greater percentage of their household budgets is impacted.”
Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, chair of the labor and public employees committee, said that it was critically important that the annual wage increases are indexed to economic indicators so that the minimum wage wouldn’t get “stuck” again.
“It’s a good day for working people. It helps our economy. It makes Connecticut stronger. It helps working families, and I’m proud to have been a part of it,” she said.
Sen. Derek Slap, D-West Hartford, was on hand as well
“We know that increasing the minimum wage disproportionately helps single mothers and children,” he said. “As somebody who was raised by a single mom, that’s personal for me and important for me, and I know it’s important for all of my colleagues who are standing behind me.”
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz discussed how the rising minimum wage has been a boon to the state’s economy, despite the claims opponents of the 2019 bill who said the increases would hurt employers.
“We are at an all-time high in terms of the number of workers who are working in Connecticut,” she said. “And in Connecticut, I’m proud to say that we pay our workers well, and our economy is not stifled by having a higher minimum wage.”
In his remarks, Lamont said that the wage increases were a long time coming, and acknowledged the efforts of activists dating back years to the Fight for 15 campaign.
Lamont called the increases important to maintain the state’s affordability, and also touted other efforts from his administration to improve affordability, including expansion of the state earned income tax credit and ongoing efforts to mitigate the loss of food and medical assistance for residents as a result of changes to federal law.
“Look, we got people working harder and harder and really struggling to get by,” he said. “That’s what this minimum wage is all about. That’s what the EITC is all about. That’s what SNAP is all about. That’s what FoodShare is all about. And that’s what we’re trying to get accomplished.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: West Hartford Town Council member and state House candidate Tiffani McGinnis was misidentified in the original photo caption at the top of this story.