PROVIDENCE -- More than 10,000 Rhode Island workers would get a 60-cent-an-hour raise next January under minimum-wage legislation approved by the General Assembly and now under consideration by Governor Carcieri.
Republican Carcieri said during his 2002 campaign for governor that he opposed raising the minimum wage, at least until the economy improved. He has not decided whether to veto the measure raising the minimum wage from $6.15 to $6.75 an hour.
"The governor has said there are better options than increasing the mimimum wage to really grow the economy," said Jeff Neal, Carcieri's spokesman. "That said, he is studying the bill, and he has not made a decision on it."
Carcieri will get plenty of advice. Democrats, community groups and organized labor leaders will push him to approve the bill, and some business interests are requesting that he veto it.
"He should veto it," said James Hagan, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. Hagan said increasing the minimum wage sends the wrong message to businesses thinking of locating in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island would have the nation's sixth-highest minimum wage under the legislation, which would take effect on New Year's Day 2004, Hagan said.
George Nee, secretary-treasurer of the state AFL-CIO, praised the Democratic Assembly leadership for approving the measure and said he and other labor leaders will lobby Carcieri against a veto.
"This is a good opportunity for the governor to show he is concerned about including everybody in economic development," said Nee, "especially hard-working Rhode Islanders."
More than 10,000 Rhode Islanders earn between the current minimum wage of $6.15 and the $6.75 level, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While that is a small number of the more than 500,000 people employed in the state, business and labor leaders say increasing the minimum wage has the ripple effect of raising wages for workers slightly to moderately above the minimum rate.
"It has the potential of a ripple . . . through the economy," said John Gregory, president of the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. "We think the market should set the wage rates."
There is a political calculus to the minimum wage, an issue that traditionally separates Democrats and Republicans. Democrats usually support an increase and Republicans often do not, so the Assembly dropped a hot issue in Carcieri's lap.
Even if Carcieri does veto it, the Democrats would likely have the votes to override it or enact an increase when they return to the State House in January.
House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox, D-Providence, said the 2003 legislative session approved a flurry of pro-business legislation. He cited the financial incentives to keep GTECH in the state, tax breaks for manufacturers and an increase in state venture-capital money.
"It is only fair that we give this to the working people of this state," said Fox. "This is still not a living wage, but it sets a floor for the neediest people."
While Rhode Island's current minimum wage may be high by national standards -- where most states adhere to the federal $5.15 an hour rate -- it is low by New England standards. Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Maine all are above the Rhode Island rate.
If the $6.75 rate goes into effect in January, Rhode Island will be equal to Massachusetts and still under the $7.10 rate in Connecticut.
"As the cost of living goes up, we'll continue to revisit it," said Sen. Daniel DaPonte, D-East Providence, sponsor of the legislation. "I think most of the businesses that will have to pay this are the big national corporations -- McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts, the fast-food places. The local mom and pop stores pay more than the minimum now to keep good employees."
