Progressive lawmakers around the country have been rallying behind a call for a $15 minimum wage, and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has joined their ranks.
This hour, what would increasing the minimum wage by almost 150 percent over the next four years mean for businesses and workers here in Connecticut? We hear from an economist and get the takes of several local business owners on Democrats’ proposal to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2023.
We also take a look at the minimum wage landscape in our northeastern region. With dramatic increases already taking place in Massachusetts and New York, does Connecticut have to play catch up?
Are you a minimum wage employee, or a local business owner? We want to hear from you.
Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
GUESTS:
- Ben Zipperer – An economist who focuses on the minimum wage at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank in Washington DC (@ben_zipperer)
- Cheryl McDonald - Co-owner of Bear’s Restaurant Group
- Brian Jessurun - Managing Partner of Green Valley Hospitality, which owns and operates four restaurants in Eastern Connecticut, including the Vanilla Bean Cafe in Pomfret; he and his brother employ 150 people in their Connecticut restaurants.
- John Dankosky - Editor of the New England News Collaborative (@johndankosky)
READING LIST:
CT Post: Lamont: Four year phase-in to $15/hour (February 2019) – “Later in the day he announced support for a four-year phase-in to a $15 minimum wage, up from the current $10.10 per hour. Under the governor’s proposal, the wage would rise to $11.25 in January 2020, with annual hikes of $1.25 until 2023, when it would equal the Massachusetts minimum.”
Connecticut Public Radio: What’s Next For Connecticut’s Minimum Wage? (John Dankosky, January 2019) – “The start of 2019 meant more workers around the region saw automatic increases to their minimum wages that were built into legislation – and it also meant new governors, like Ned Lamont in Connecticut. In his state of the state address, he addressed the fact that Connecticut’s been at $10.10 for a few years now, and he hopes to change that by moving the state’s minimum up to $15 an hour.”
The Indicator: The ins and outs of the minimum wage (November 2018) – “Until a few decade ago, economists generally believed that if you increased the minimum wage, companies wouldn't hire as many workers. Since then, economists have been carefully studying what happens after individual states increase their own minimum wages — providing useful, if imperfect, experiments.”
Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
