With the 2025 legislative session underway and many Democrats proposing bills to lower costs and empower working families, Connecticut Republicans have proposed several bills aimed at weakening the state’s minimum wage.
For lawmakers in the General Assembly’s Democratic majorities, the word at the top of everyone’s minds is often “affordability.” Democratic legislators have unveiled proposals to lower the cost of electricity and healthcare, create jobs and empower working families.
However, members of the Republican minority caucuses seem to have embraced a different set of priorities and have proposed legislation to undermine policies that support working Connecticut families. For instance, here are three GOP bills designed to weaken the state’s minimum wage.
HB 5703: An Act Adjusting the Annual Increase to the Minimum Wage
In 2019, Democrats passed legislation that incrementally increased the minimum wage from $10.10 to $15 an hour by 2023.
Additionally, the legislation tied the minimum wage to the employment-cost index, ensuring that while the economy grows, minimum wage workers don’t get left behind. Due to this legislation, the minimum wage increased to $15.69 in 2024, and $16.35 this year.
This proposal from House Republicans would unlink the increases from the employment-cost index and freeze the annual adjustment to no more than a 10 cent increase.
Should this proposal make its way into law, it would take Connecticut workers 13.5 years to realize the same increase they received in 2 years under current law.
HB 5785: An Act Exempting Nonprofit Organizations from Minimum Wage Requirements
This proposal would exempt non-profit organizations from paying their employees the minimum wage. Connecticut is home to many nonprofit long term care facilities for the elderly and the disabled, or nonprofit early education and child care centers.
These industries are notoriously underfunded and workers are understaffed and underpaid while providing essential care. It is unclear why any legislator would propose allowing those who care for our most vulnerable citizens to be paid below the minimum wage.
Conversely, Democratic leaders in the legislature have just called to increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate. This step would enable these providers to recruit and retain critical staff members by offering better pay and benefits to their front line workers.
HB 6416 An Act Concerning the Minimum Wage Rate for Persons Under the Age of Eighteen Years
This proposal from Rep. Steve Weir, R-Hebron, would allow employers to pay workers under the age of 18 less than their over 18 counterparts for the same work.
The bill follows trends in certain states that have moved to loosen youth-labor restrictions, like an Iowa law allowing 16 and 17-year olds to work in manufacturing, or employers in other states ignoring restrictions meant to prohibit minors from working in dangerous settings like meatpacking plants.
Connecticut has a strong history of protecting workers — from implementing one of the most robust Paid Family Medical Leave programs, offering a competitive minimum wage, protecting the right to unionize and more.
Allowing employers to pay their workers less than a livable wage based solely on their age with no regard for the quality of their work or their financial responsibilities raises some red flags for labor advocates who warn of a slippery slope.
The Connecticut Business and Industry Association reports that 10% of Connecticut’s workforce earns the minimum wage – about 169,000 workers. According to the U.S. Census and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 60% of minimum wage earners are women.
