PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri announced yesterday that he would let a minimum-wage increase become law without his signature. The change boosts the rate 60 cents, to $6.75 per hour, effective on Jan. 1.
The governor made the decision late Monday night, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said. Carcieri had been under pressure from lawmakers and labor leaders to sign the bill, while some in the business community had urged a veto.
Carcieri was not available for comment on his decision yesterday. But Neal said the governor "believes that it is reasonable to periodically increase the minimum wage to account for increases in inflation."
During his Republican gubernatorial campaign last year, Carcieri maintained that he saw no pressing reason to raise the minimum wage, saying it was mostly for "college and high school kids." He said education and job training were more pressing economic issues.
"He still believes that this is not the best way to ensure the financial well-being of Rhode Island citizens," Neal said. But he said the governor was "willing to allow this increase to become law," recognizing that the wage rate had not been increased in three years.
The change will put Rhode Island on a par with Massachusetts but still behind Connecticut, which will have a rate of $7.10 per hour come January.
About 10,000 Rhode Island workers earn between the state's current minimum of $6.15 per hour and $6.64 per hour, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The statistics only track the number of people in the category, not their age or the specific work they do.
Another 16,000 earn under $6.15 per hour, but those are generally restaurant workers or others whose base pay is supplemented by tips and commissions, said Robert Langlais at the state Department of Labor and Training.
Jason Martiesian, vice president of government affairs for the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, said Rhode Island would have the fifth-highest minimum wage nationwide. The chamber had opposed the change; Martiesian said Rhode Island is one of only 11 states with a minimum wage above the federal rate of $5.15 per hour.
"We simply believe the market should determine wages," Martiesian said. He said raising the minimum wage can create a "domino effect" for employers, pushing up hourly wages across the spectrum; it also drives up the cost of unemployment insurance and workers' compensation insurance.
But House and Senate leaders joined representatives of the labor and minority communities yesterday at a news conference at the State House, turning an event planned to demand action from the governor into a celebration of Carcieri's decision.
"The effect for working men and women of this state is real and tangible," said House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox, D-Providence. While the $270-per-week salary the higher wage will pay is still low, he said, "at least we're setting the floor a little higher today."
The state raised its minimum wage to $5.65 in 1999 and $6.15 in 2000. But, Fox said, as years go by, the purchasing power of the minimum wage has diminished.
House Finance Committee Chairman Paul Sherlock, D-Warwick, the lead sponsor of the minimum-wage increase in the House, had wanted to tie the wage to the consumer price index so that it would continue to rise in the future. Sherlock said he would continue to push that issue to help what he called the "working poor."
"We're really talking about a segment of our population that is truly underpaid and can't afford the necessities of life -- housing, health insurance, things of that nature," he said. "That's what this is all about."
Like many of the lawmakers who spoke, George Nee, secretary-treasurer of the state chapter of the AFL-CIO, defended the increase against criticism that it is antibusiness.
"This is real economic development, because it's economic development from the bottom up," he declared.
While Carcieri has suggested the rate change will mostly affect young people, those speaking at and attending the news conference yesterday spoke of its effect on workers with families.
Mario Bueno, of the United Workers Committee at Progreso Latino, described a single mother he had spoken with yesterday morning who is earning $6.50 an hour, half of which goes to her rent. And Henry Shelton, who leads the Campaign to Eliminate Childhood Poverty, later described a woman he met at a soup kitchen who is earning minimum wage making sandwiches for Providence's summer lunch program.
"They think of everyone being a teenager . . . no way," Shelton said.
