Minimum Wage / Paid Leave

Date: March 19, 2014

On March 10, Governor Shumlin held a press conference to announce that
he was proposing an increase to Vermont’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by
2017.  The press conference occurred
about a week after Shumlin and several other New England Governors had attended
an event in Connecticut with President Obama promoting a national minimum wage
increase.  Shumlin’s proposal would raise
the minimum wage about 45 cents annually for three years, starting in January
2015.  According to a report presented to
the Legislature in February, more than 16,000 Vermonters earn less than $9 per
hour. “I don’t think there’s a Vermonter who believes that it’s OK to make
$14,000 a year when you work a 40-hour week, if you’re getting paid the current
federal minimum wage,” Shumlin said.  He asked
that the Legislature send him a minimum wage bill this session.

 

 

 

 

 

Shumlin’s proposal was greeted with mixed reviews from Democrats, Republicans
and Progressives.  Several bills have
already been introduced that would raise the minimum wage even higher than
Shumlin; one bill would raise it to $12.50 per hour, while under the
Progressive ‘Economic Bill of Rights’ the minimum wage would increase to $15
per hour.  Others have said that
Vermont’s economy is just barely recovering from the recent recession, so now
is not the time to impose a mandatory minimum wage increase on Vermont
businesses.  Opponents argue that ‘wage
creep’ would be the result of an increased minimum wage.  Businesses would be forced to adjust the pay
level of higher income workers to balance the increase received at lower pay
tiers.  Many small businesses would be
especially hard hit by the increased minimum wage.

 

 

 

 

 

House Speaker Shap Smith, believes that there will be action on the
minimum wage this session.  “I think that
there’s a good chance that we’ll move a minimum wage bill this year. I think we
all would love to see a move to support people who are making wages at the lower
end of the spectrum,” Smith said.
However, others have questioned whether legislative action on the
minimum wage is possible in light of the fact that Legislature is already
considering whether to impose a paid sick leave mandate on Vermont employers.
Shumlin believes that that the positive economic impact of minimum wage
increases is better vetted than that of paid sick leave.  Meanwhile Helen Head, D-South Burlington, the
chairwoman of the House General Affairs Committee disagrees with the Governor’s
analysis.  “I’m not sure that it is an
either or proposition that is how some people have framed it,” said Head. “But
I think that many people are understanding that it’s important that we make
progress on both of these issues this year.”

 

 

 

 

 

TAKE ACTION NOW!

USE NFIB’s ACTION ALERT TO CONTACT YOUR ELECETD OFFICIALS –
OPPOSE H.552:

 

 

With the
backing of Governor Peter Shumlin for an increase for $10.10 and House Speaker
Shap Smith supporting House General Affairs Committee taking up legislation,
H.552, which proposes to increase the minimum wage to $12.50 per hour.

 

 

 

 

 

MARCH 20 from 6-8PM, PUBLIC HEARING – H.552, Minimum Wage, proposes to raise the Vermont minimum wage to $12.50 per hour.  The hearing will be at the Vermont Statehouse
in the House Chamber.  Members are urged to contact
their legislator(s), y
ou can also leave a message for your
legislator(s) at 800-322-5616.  Members should also contact the House
Speaker Shap Smith,
[email protected], 802 -828-2245, Senate Pres Pro-Tem John Campbell, [email protected], 802-828-3806, and Governor Peter Shumlin, [email protected], 800-649-6825

 

 

 

 

 

House Committee
on General, Housing and Military Affairs

 

 

Rep. Helen Head
of South Burlington, Chair,
[email protected] 

 

 

Rep. John Moran
of Wardsboro, Vice Chair,
[email protected] 

 

 

Rep. Brian
Savage of Swanton,
[email protected] 

 

 

Rep. Jean
O’Sullivan of Burlington,
[email protected] 

 

 

Rep. Tom
Stevens of Waterbury,
[email protected] 

 

 

Rep. Warren Van
Wyck of Ferrisburgh,
[email protected] 

 

 

Rep. Sheila Vowinkel
of Hartford,
[email protected] 

 

 

Rep. Cynthia
Weed of Enosburgh,
[email protected] 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Content: Small Business News | Economy | Vermont

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