Tens of thousands of Connecticut residents will get a raise Thursday when the minimum wage increases from $8.70 an hour to $9.15 per hour.
The increase is the result of a law passed in 2014 by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, which will further increase the minimum wage to $9.60 in 2016 and $10.10 by 2017.
“Connecticut was the first state in the nation to commit to increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour because we want to make sure that no one who works full time lives in poverty,” Malloy, who won a second-term this year, said.
Connecticut’s minimum wage had been scheduled to increase even before Malloy announced he wanted to increase it even further to $10.10 an hour by 2017. In previous years when he wasn’t up for re-election, Malloy took a more neutral stance on the minimum wage. However, in an election year passing a minimum wage hike put Malloy on the national stage with President Barack Obama who visited the state in March to help encourage states like Connecticut to take the lead.
“This latest increase is just one more part of a phased-in series of gradual increases for hard-working men and women, many of whom are supporting their families and who will put this increase directly into Connecticut’s economy,” Malloy said this week in a press release.
Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman described the increase in her own terms: “For the 125,000 Connecticut women who earn at or just above the minimum wage, this increase is critical — it will help support families and improve women’s future economic security.”
In addition to the minimum wage, Thursday also ushers in a handful a new laws.
One new law prohibits health insurance policies from imposing more than a $20 co-payment on a breast ultrasound screening. Another new law requires the Police Officer Standards and Training Council to develop a model policy for the use of electronic defense weapons such as Tasers.
Finally, there’s a new law that establishes a new optional foreclosure method for certain residential properties, allowing a foreclosure by market sale.