By Chris Bosak

Published 3:21 pm EST, Monday, February 13, 2017

DANBURY — Raising the state minimum wage to $15 per hour would hurt businesses and fly in the face of the original intent of the wage provision, according to a letter signed by three state chambers of commerce and sent to 30 state legislators.

The Danbury, Milford and Northwest chambers of commerce urged the legislators to oppose SB13, which would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020. Connecticut’s current minimum wage is $10.10 per hour. The U.S. minimum wage is $7.25.

SB13, co-sponsored by five Democratic state senators, would raise the state’s minimum wage to $11 per hour in 2018 and increase the wage by one dollar per hour each year until 2022. In 2014, state legislators approved an incremental increase to make the minimum wage $10.10 by 2017.

The letter also urged legislators to oppose SB1, which would create a paid family and medical leave system.

“Connecticut is facing a massive budget deficit and extraordinary unfunded liabilities,” the letter reads in part. “The likely solution of any combination of spending cuts or revenue increases cannot positively affect our members, their employees and our communities.”

The letter was signed by Steven Bull, president of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce; Gary Mullin, executive director of the Milford Chamber of Commerce; and JoAnn Ryan, president and CEO of the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce.

State Rep. Bob Godfrey, D-Danbury, is a co-sponsor of SB1 and SB 13. He said he hadn’t seen the letter as of Monday afternoon as snow has prevented him from getting to Hartford.

He said raising the minimum wage would help the overall economy.

“Trickle down never works. Trickle up does when you start to pay people more money,” Godfrey said. “The economy moves when money turns over. When the super rich have money, they store it away. It’s insane to think the same old way of thinking will work.”

In April, about 40 advocates marched at Danbury Library in the “Danbury Rising” rally that supported the $15 minimum wage level.

Bull said the letter was not intended to sound unsympathetic toward low-wage workers. Minimum wage, he said, was originally intended to be a working or entry-level wage, not a living wage for families.

“In a perfect world, everybody would be in favor of these things, of course,” Bull said. “But given our financial situation this is not the time to saddle our employers with another mandate. It’s very anti-business and we don’t need that now. We want businesses to come here and stay here. Do we really want fewer jobs and fewer people working?”

Bull added that the bills would disproportionately affect small businesses and nonprofits as they are the ones that typically pay minimum wage.

“While most of our members are sympathetic to the issues, from a business perspective they are looking at huge increases by bringing them up to that point, which also brings those making more than minimum wage up even further. That’s a real challenge,” Ryan said. “It becomes unaffordable to do business. It’s a touchy, tough situation, but from a business view point, companies simply can afford it.”

The Connecticut Business & Industry Association, the state’s largest business group, also opposed SB13, claiming it will create further job stagnation.

Fil Cerminara of Danbury’s F&M Electric said his industry typically pays more than minimum wage, but he is concerned that the government wants to mandate raises for workers.

“They (government) have their hand in one pocket already and now they want to get a hand in the other pocket. It’s a continuing non-friendly way of doing things,” Cerminara said. “Employers are on a budget so they will have to either cut employees or cut hours.”

The state Labor and Public Employees Committee will hold a public hearing to discuss several proposed bills, including SB1 and SB13, at 2 p.m. on Thursday in Room 2E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

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