Legislative History
2004-2005: Minimum Wage Increased from $7.00 to $7.25
& COLA, Extension of Basic Needs Budget
In the final hours of the 2005 Vermont Legislative session, the House and Senate reached a compromise on S. 80 to increase the minimum wage from $7.00 to $7.25 on Jan. 1, 2006 and then increase the rate by a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) based on the CPI-U index every January 1st starting in 2007. This bill makes Vermont the first state in the country to legislate an annual cost of living adjustment to our state minimum wage. The three states with COLAs on their state minimum wage rates changes their laws based on ballot initiatives (WA, OR, and FL). This increase will make Vermont the fourth highest minimum wage in 2006 based on the status of other minimum wage legislation in other states so far this year.
Sadly, Governor Jim Douglas decided to sign the bill into law behind closed doors on June 28th, 2005. Increasing the wages of over 10,000 Vermonters deserves more public education and acknowledgement than the Governor afforded Vermont's working people with his private handling of this important bill!
H. 72, Unlawful Employment Practices Bill Passes, passed both bodies last week on Equal Pay Day (April 19th). The bill is currently in front of the Governor who is expected to sign it into law. H. 72 will make it unlawful for employers to retaliate against their workers for discussing wages. It also makes it illegal for employers to include a clause in the personnel manual dictating that workers cannot discuss wages and then force workers to sign the document. This bill is a great victory for low-wage workers who will have further protection to discuss wages and then possibly start a union. Also, women and people of color will have additional protection when trying to discover differences in salaries and compensation rates for equal work with male, white co-workers.
H. 403, Livable Wage/Basic Needs Study Passes
This bill was introduced to instruct the Vermont Joint Fiscal Office (JFO) to calculate the livable wage figures on an annual basis within the Basic Needs Budget Study. As introduced, the bill also instructed the JFO and Legislative Joint Fiscal Committee to review the methodology for the Study every two years. The livable wage figures are a vital resource for setting wages and for expanding the discussion on poverty by providing an alternative economic indicator (livable wage vs. federal poverty line). Many Vermont workers, non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and businesses use the Study and livable wage figures for such purposes. During the last week of the session the Senate amended the bill to produce the study every other year with a supplement report during the interterm year to reflect major changes in the cost of living in Vermont. The House concurred with the changes in the last days of the session. The livable wage figures will now be produced on a 2 year basis. The next study is schedule to be produced in January of 2007.
To read more about the 2005 legislative session, click here.
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