Julie Kushner

SEN. KUSHNER WELCOMES FORTHCOMING MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE TO $15 AN HOUR

HARTFORD – State Senator Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) today joined Governor Ned Lamont and other state officials to celebrate the impending increase of Connecticut’s minimum wage from $14 per hour to $15 per hour on Thursday, June 1, 2023.

The minimum wage increase is the result of a bill that Sen. Kushner voted for on May 16, 2019, which increased Connecticut’s minimum wage from $10.10 an hour to $15 an hour in one-dollar increments over the past five years.

“A few years ago, I was talking with some young people playing pick-up basketball. They told me they really weren’t into politics. So I asked, did any of you get a dollar an hour increase at work a few weeks ago? The conversation totally changed and they became quite animated. Young people who didn’t show a great interest in politics were truly excited about getting a raise. I pointed out that it happened because of people who voted for me and people like me. Voting in elections can make a difference in your paycheck,” Sen. Kushner said. “In a few days, we will achieve the $15 an hour minimum wage that we passed at 2:44 in the morning on that May day in 2019. Today we celebrate the difference that we are making for working families in Connecticut – not only raising the minimum wage this year, but by indexing it, it will automatically continue to rise. That makes all the late nights and long drives worthwhile.”

Beginning on January 1, 2024, Connecticut’s minimum wage will be indexed to the employment cost index, which is calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor and which tracks movement in the cost of labor, as measured by wages and benefits, at all levels of a company.

Prior to the 2019 law, Connecticut has 37 minimum wage increases over 65 years, beginning at 75 cents an hour in 1951 and not reaching $10 an hour until 2017.