HARTFORD, Conn.—A bill to raise Connecticut’s minimum wage from $10.10 to $15 an hour is dead for
this year, after the General Assembly failed to vote on it before the legislative session ended at midnight May 9. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic leaders had promised the increase when the session opened in February, but could not attract the 76 votes needed to pass in the House, even after the final increase to $15 was pushed back from 2021 to 2023. It only had the support of 64 of the 79 Democrats in the House, Rep. Josh Elliott (D-Hamden), told the Connecticut Mirror Web site. A bill to raise the minimum to $12.10 in 2020 was backed by 75 Democrats, he added. In the state Senate, which is split 18-18 between the parties, Joan V. Hartley of Waterbury, the only Democrat who had voted against raising the minimum to $10.10, also did not support another increase. Connecticut AFL-CIO President Lori Pelletier on May 3 had criticized Democratic legislative leaders for “lack of action on critical worker issues.” Measures for paid family medical leave and to expand the 2011 paid sick-leave law also never reached the floor. Read more
