The Labor and Public Employees Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly last week approved a bill to increase the minimum wage from $8.25 to $9.75 within two years.
The bill will be voted on in the General Assembly by the end of the legislative session in June.
In a Jan. 31 public hearing on the bill, advocates said a wage increase would allow workers a minimum amount of financial security, while business representatives said it would result in fewer jobs, hurting the same class of people the bill intends to help.
The committee passed the bill along party lines in a 7-4 vote with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed.
The Connecticut minimum wage was last raised in 2010. The bill also includes a provision for automatic increases based on the consumer price index.
