Minimum Wage Increase Signed Into Law

June 5, 2019

 

After fighting for years to increase Connecticut's minimum hourly wage, Representative Robyn Porter and her supporters watch Governor Ned Lamont sign her legislation into law in a ceremony at the State Capitol.

The new law raises the current $10.10 minimum wage over four and a half years to $15 an hour by June 1, 2023.

"Workers in our state deserve this raise," Porter said.

In March, it was five years ago that Connecticut passed a $10.10 hourly minimum wage to take effect by 2017. At the time, the current minimum wage was good compared to other states, but since then the pay for our private-sector workers has significantly lagged behind our neighboring states: Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont all have higher minimum wages than Connecticut.

Under the new law, the minimum will increase to $11 this year, $12 in 2020, $13 in 2021, $14 in 2022 and $15 in 2023. In 2024 and years thereafter the minimum wage will be indexed to the rate of inflation, so we won’t have to continue fighting for wage increases every year, Porter said.