Saud Anwar

Senator Anwar Joins Democrats In Raising Connecticut’s Minimum Wage

HARTFORD, CT – Early this morning, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) joined the Senate Democrats to approve a bill designed to raise Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage to $15 an hour in five yearly steps by June 1, 2023 – a change that will benefit a third of a million state residents, or nearly a third of Connecticut’s workforce.

“There are so many in our communities who work hard but are not being paid fairly. In my work with local food banks, I know so many people who work full time – but the minimum wage does not cover their ability to buy food,” said Sen. Anwar. “Ninety percent of the people currently receiving the minimum wage are not teenagers. Almost 60 percent are women and 30 percent have children. Despite working 80 or so hours, people cannot afford safe shelter and remain food insecure. When women make $15 an hour, 50 percent of them would rise out of poverty. This bill will allow people to improve their status, invest more in their families and invest in their futures.”

House Bill 5004, “AN ACT INCREASING THE MINIMUM FAIR WAGE,” increases Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage from the current $10.10 per hour to:

• $11.00 on October 1, 2019
• $12.00 on September 1, 2020
• $13.00 on August 1, 2021
• $14.00 on July 1, 2022
• and $15.00 on June 1, 2023

After June 1, 2023, the bill would index Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage to changes in the federal Employment Cost Index.

The bill freezes employers’ shares of “tip credits,” which allow employers to count employee tips as a percentage of their minimum wage requirement, though it also requires tip credit value to increase and cover the difference between employers’ shares and minimum wage increases. Additionally, it changes the “training wage” for youth, eliminating a standard allowing employers to pay as low as 85 percent of the minimum wage for learners and beginners. The training wage now only applies to people under the age of 18, and is limited to the first 90 days of minors’ employment, rather than 200 hours.

Once the bill is passed and signed into law by Governor Lamont, the first minimum wage increase will take effect on October 1 of this year.