Last Friday, the Appropriations Committee added its stamp of approval to legislation that would increase the state minimum wage from $8.25 to $9.25 per hour over two years, and then index the rate to inflation. With approval now from the Labor and Appropriations Committees, the bill heads to the House floor for a vote.

At $8.25 per hour, the state minimum wage buys less now than it did 40 years ago; too often, what it buys today is poverty. The wage is so low a father working full time, 52 weeks per year at minimum wage couldn’t pull a family of three out of poverty. And that poverty figure—the federal poverty line—doesn’t even consider the higher cost of living in Connecticut. See CT Voices’ recent report for details.