On Thursday, March 27, Connecticut lawmakers passed legislation to increase the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by 2017, making it the highest minimum wage imposed by a state. With the passage of this legislation, Connecticut became the first state to respond to President Barack Obama’s plea to raise the minimum wage to $10.10, a task he has only been able to accomplish for federal contract workers via an executive order. The bill passed through the Democrat-controlled Connecticut General Assembly with 21 votes in the Senate and 87 votes in the House; it was signed into law by Democrat Governor Dannel P. Malloy.
Connecticut State Representative and Wesleyan alumnus Matthew Lesser ’10, who voted in favor of the bill, commented on the importance of the legislation.
“It was a proud vote for basic fairness and economic justice, and a sign that Connecticut can lead the nation in fighting for our progressive values,” Lesser wrote in an email to The Argus. “The bill was designed to bring the minimum wage back to where it was, adjusted for inflation, in 1969, the same year men landed on the moon. Low-wage workers’ wages have plummeted over the years in real terms, lowering social mobility and increasing economic inequality to levels not seen since the Great Depression.”
Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) representative on the Sustainability, Facilities, and Finance Committee Scott Elias ’14 commented on the actual decline in the minimum wage over the years.
“There’s been a huge gap between wages and productivity,” Elias said. “For most workers, their wages, in real terms, are stagnant or declining. Today, the earned income tax credit and the minimum wage combined is less than the minimum wage was under Ronald Reagan, just to put that in perspective. I think Americans deserve a wage hike…. If you raise the minimum wage, that means individuals have more purchasing power.”
Connecticut’s minimum wage increase will have implications on the University and its students. Senior Associate Director of the Financial Aid Office Sean Martin commented on the changes that the University will make in accordance with the wage hike.
“Wesleyan will continue to pay students in accordance with state labor law,” Martin wrote in an email to The Argus. “[…]The bill that was recently signed by the Governor increasing minimum wage to $10.10/hour starting in 2017 means simply that, as we have done in the past, necessary adjustments to students’ hourly pay will be made to ensure compliance with state labor law.”
With the rising costs of tuition, Lesser speculated on how the wage increase could help University students.
“Wesleyan students know as well as anyone that the costs for many things, higher education among them, have risen much faster than wages,” Lesser wrote in an email to The Argus. “So if raising the minimum wage will help work-study students afford the cost of college, I’m all for it.”
Elias emphasized the benefits the wage increase would have on the University’s student body.
“From a student perspective, I also think it’s a good idea,” Elias said. “I think in general for low-income students at one of the most expensive universities, there are people who use their jobs to pay for their books [and] their school supplies to be able to go here…. I think it’s great for them because it takes a little bit of the burden off. [Raising the minimum wage] is a positive step. I don’t think it’s going to get rid of student debt problems, but I think it’ll [help students] deal with that problem.”
Although the increased pay would undoubtedly benefit student workers, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Title IX Officer Antonio Farias commented on the importance of quality budgeting tactics.
“The real concern is, do we teach a level of financial management to students coming in, or do we simply expect that they already know this?” Farias said. “Because, again, whether it’s $10 an hour, whether it’s $15 an hour, or whether it’s $7 an hour, it’s a finite amount of resource coming into your wallet. Do you have the wherewithal, and do you have the understanding of how you can spend that money now?[…] Regardless of how you expend your money, if you realize [the importance of] saving…how would your life be different? How would you be better positioned as a graduate if, four years later, you now have a chunk of money?”
Further, Farias explored the need for a campus-wide discussion on the minimum wage and budgeting practices.
“I think it’s worth exploring minimum wage in the context of everything else that is a Wesleyan experience,” Farias said. “The student body that is most in need of a raise, in terms of their minimum wage standards…are more than likely on some sort of work-study package. I think it behooves us to think about this across the board of how we expend money…. The only way we get to that is to have real conversations with real students that are experiencing this.”