The governor's office recognizes that there isn't enough support to sustain a veto of the measure.

01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, February 15, 2006

BY SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE -- The 21,000 workers in Rhode Island earning minimum wage will see a 35-cent raise in their hourly pay on March 1.

Governor Carcieri yesterday backed down from earlier threats to veto legislation providing a two-step increase in the minimum wage. The measure will now become law without his signature.

The state's minimum wage will go to $7.10 an hour as of March 1 and to $7.40 on Jan. 1. The wage was last raised in January 2004, from $6.15 to the current $6.75. Carcieri also let that increase take effect without his signature.

The Republican governor's turnaround had nothing to do with policy. It was all political.

Very simply, he knew there were not enough votes in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly to sustain his veto.

"The governor continues to believe that this legislation will undermine his efforts to grow Rhode Island jobs," Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said. "But after a year of debate, passage of this legislation is now inevitable and the governor believes it is time to move on to other important business."

The governor's office offered no further explanation.

The measure passed the House 60 to 11 and cleared the Senate 36 to 2 -- wide enough margins in both chambers to easily override a veto.

"I'm glad that the governor has come to see the light," said Rep. Charlene M. Lima, D-Cranston, the House sponsor. "In this budget he's been proposing so many cuts to so many social programs that we need to make sure people are shown respect by setting a floor on how much they can earn."

Senate sponsor Daniel DaPonte, D-East Providence, said the move was "politically smart on his part. We had the votes both in the Senate and the House to override it."

"The working poor . . . will get a bump that they deserve," DaPonte added. "It's not going to cure all their ills, but hopefully it will help them offset some of the costs of living that they've incurred since the last minimum-wage bump."

John C. Gregory, president and CEO of the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, said he was "disappointed" and said the law is going to hurt businesses that hire part-time workers.

The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, which has opposed such an increase in the past, was silent this year.

"We just thought that this year we would stay out of that controversy and stay neutral," said Paul T. DeRoche, the chamber's lobbyist.

Rhode Island, 16 other states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages above the federal rate of $5.15. Oregon has the highest, at $7.50 an hour, followed by Connecticut at $7.40. Massachusetts is at $6.75.

smayerow@projo.com / (401) 277-7513