by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org A Senate panel endorsed a new minimum wage proposal Friday that would phase in increases over afour-year period.The bill, H552, which was approved in a unanimous 5-0 vote, would increase the minimum wage to $9.15 in January 2015 (or nearly a dollar less per hour than the House version); $9.60 in January 2016; $10 in January 2017 and $10.50 in 2018. It heads next to the full Senate. This is a somewhat slower pace than even Governor Shumlin proposed, who wants the minimum wage to increase to $10.10 by 2017.
Senator Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, chair of the committee, said he was pleased his committee quickly reached consensus on the minimum-wage level.
“Although some members felt it went too far, others thought it did not go far enough,” Mullin said.
The proposal, he said, gives business time to adjust to the increases. Mullin believes the graduated higher wages will not have an immediate negative impact that would result in job losses.
The Senate Economic Development Committee considered six different proposals and compromised on the phase-in plan. The senators agreed that after 2018 the minimum wage would increase 5 percent a year or by the consumer price index inflation rate. Senators struck a provision in the bill that would have increased the base rate for restaurant workers.
The House passed version of the bill increased the minimum wage to $10.10 starting in January 2015. Shumlin has pressed for a three-year phase in to $10.10 by 2017.
The state minimum wage is $8.73 per hour, compared to the federal rate of $7.25 per hour. Vermont nudges up the minimum hourly wage each year in proportion to changes in the Consumer Price Index.