HARTFORD Conn. Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s veto of a 35-cent increase in Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage was overridden Monday by just one vote each in the state House and Senate. Lawmakers also later overrode the governor's veto of another bill that raised the state's tip credit.
The vote of 102-39 in the House and 25-9 in the Senate ensures that the increase in Connecticut’s minimum wage will go through next year. Starting Jan. 1, the state's minimum wage will increase from $7.65 to $8. The wage will go up again in 2010, to $8.25. Approximately 65,000 workers are paid the minimum wage in Connecticut.
Rell, who rejected a similar bill in 2006, said she vetoed the minimum wage legislation because of the negative economic conditions afflicting her state.
“This is a seriously shortsighted decision that, even if well intentioned, will have long-lasting negative consequences for employers and employees alike all over Connecticut,” she said. “An increase in the minimum wage will bring an increase in the costs of goods and services, the loss of jobs and unrecognized costs to employers in the form of higher Social Security, unemployment tax and workers compensation payments. A minimum wage increase at this time does little but hurt the families it is intended to help.”
After overriding Rell's veto of the minimum wage increase, both chambers of the General Assembly voted to override her veto of a measure that increased the state's tip credit for employers of hospitality workers who receive gratuities. Rell had vetoed that bill after rejecting the wage hike, saying it would be unnecessary if the minimum wage did not increase.
Starting Jan. 1, the tip credit for servers, which is currently 29.3 percent, will increase to 31 percent. The tip credit for bartenders will rise from 8 percent to 11 percent.
The higher tip credit will help soften the blow of the minimum wage hike for restaurant operators, said Bob DeZinno, president of the Connecticut Restaurant Association.
“We’re so happy to get this nice increase in tip credits,” DeZinno said. “This means that while it’s difficult in these economic times for any operator to bear any cost increases, we’re happy the legislators on both sides of the aisle recognize those difficulties.”