Minimum Wage Proposals Will Hurt Connecticut
Recently, the legislature’s Labor Committee moved several bills forward that would increase the state’s minimum wage from the current $10.10 an hour to $15 per hour by 2022 or 2023. As ranking member – senior Republican – on that committee, I voted against this proposal because it’s too much, too fast and has the potential to do more harm than good. The federal minimum wage is $7.25.
Proponents argue that we must increase the state’s minimum wage again because people deserve to earn a “living wage” and that it would lift large groups of people out of poverty. Their claims only seem to talk about the upsides while they downplay, or worse, completely ignore, the potential downsides, including employers turning to automation, reducing workers’ hours and being forced to significantly alter their business plan or close altogether. Another concern relates to eligibility for state and federal services for lower-wage workers. An increase in the minimum wage could push people past eligibility requirements and cause them to be removed from assistance, further hurting those who can least afford it.
Fewer still are willing to discuss the definition of “living wage” or how they came up with the $15-per-hour rate they’re pushing for. If the goal is to make sure everyone has a wage to live on, why not mandate everyone receive $25-per-hour? $30-per-hour?
I fully believe workers deserve to be compensated for their efforts, and no one should be forced to work for free. However, Connecticut continues to battle its way out of a difficult fiscal position and employers are struggling to stay afloat in the face of a state with a lagging economic recovery and ever-increasing tax burden that’s only going to get worse if the policies being discussed in committee are allowed to go into effect. While the state tries to fill another giant deficit that’s reported to be about $2.5 billion over the next two years, we have legislators demanding employers provide raises without consideration for their business or the pressure they’re facing. Many of those same legislators are also pushing for substantial tax increases on everything from infant car seats, haircuts and bicycle helmets to vegetable seeds, college text books and non-prescription medication, among dozens more. Employers are being squeezed from both ends with these proposals and there does not appear to be an end in sight in the state’s rush to capture as much revenue as possible.
In our area, we have many small employers who will be hit the hardest by such a rapid increase in the minimum wage. Quassy Amusement Park is a perfect example of a small business that employs hundreds of younger workers – many from Watertown and Woodbury – that would be devastated by such a rapid increase in the wage. Quassy has said they employ more than 350 younger, seasonal workers, many of high school age, and will need to seriously reconsider how they operate, including how many employees they can afford to hire, if this law were to pass.
In response to these radical tax-and-spend ideas, Republican legislators have proposed alternatives, including implementing a slower increase in the minimum wage and an expansion of the current temporary “training wage” for low-skilled or younger workers to get experience in an industry before employers are forced to pay the new rate. Allowing employers to pay beginning workers a lower starting wage – one that is at least the federal minimum of $7.25 – alleviates some of the pressure on their bottom line while they bring new or inexperienced workers up to speed and transition to a higher starting wage for more experienced workers.
There’s no doubt that this is a thorny issue and finding a balance between helping workers to earn more and allowing employers to provide services based on what the industry will bear is challenging. Still, bullying employers with unfinished, feel-good legislation doesn’t necessarily mean it will benefit workers, especially when it and has the potential to cost desperately needed jobs.