May 9, 2019

Mastrofrancesco Votes Against Costly Minimum Wage Hike

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HARTFORD—After a long 14 hour debate in the House of Representatives, State Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco (R-80) on Wednesday said the state’s business community can’t afford the crush of anti-employer policies pushed by Democrats and voted against an economically harmful proposal to increase the state’s minimum wage to $15.

For the past decade, the Democrats’ only solution to fixing our state’s fiscal climate has been to increase spending and taxes, which has failed. At the same time Democrats propose to raise the minimum wage they are also looking to make families pay more with additional taxes and the imposition of tolls on our state highways,” said Rep. Mastrofrancesco. “The state business community has repeatedly said Connecticut must get its fiscal house in order, yet we see lawmakers focusing on proposals such as this.”

Mastrofrancesco along with the House Republicans proposed an amendment that would have eliminated the cost associated with an increase in the minimum wage to our local municipalities and tax dollars.

The amendment was defeated along party-lines.

According to Department of Labor, Connecticut dropped 3,400 jobs in the first three months of 2019. Connecticut lost 1,300 jobs March alone, pushing unemployment one-tenth higher than the national rate of 3.8.

The wage hike increase would go from the current rate of $10.10 per hour in increments to $11.25, $12.50, $13.75, and then $15 per hour.

According to the state’s largest big association, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA), the state needs an additional 23,700 net new jobs to rebound fully from the 2008 recession, ranking last in job recovery in New England.

The bill passed the House of Representatives an almost party-line vote of 85-59 and now heads to the State Senate.

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