The parade of annual increases in Rhode Island’s hourly minimum wage is poised to march on for two more years under companion bills approved by the Rhode Island General Assembly Tuesday.
The legislation sponsored by Democratic Rep. David Bennett, of Warwick, and Sen. John Burke, of West Warwick, increase the existing, $15 hourly minimum wage to $16 starting Jan. 1, 2026, rising to $17 on Jan. 1, 2027.
Both chambers approved the wage hike in separate votes divided mostly along party lines — 55-10 in the House, and 33-4 in the Senate. All four Senate Republicans voted against the bill while nine of 10 House Republicans opposed it; the final House Republican, Rep. Robert Quattrocchi, of Scituate, was absent.
Democratic Rep. Jacquelyn Baginski of Cranston also voted against the wage increase.
Each chamber must rubber stamp the other’s bill under a process known as concurrence before the proposal can be signed into law. Gov. Dan McKee’s office did not immediately return inquiries for comment Thursday.
Originally, an annual $1-per-year increase in base pay would have continued through the end of the decade, culminating in $20-an-hour in 2030.
But backlash from business groups and economic uncertainty led to what Rep. Arthur Corvese, a North Providence Democrat and chair of the House Committee on Labor, termed a “more measured approach” — only prescribing annual wage hikes for the next two years rather than five.
“I would urge my colleagues to vote for this very common sense, measured response regarding increasing the minimum wage,” Corvese said.
His plea did not persuade Republican lawmakers, who echoed business owners concerns’ that higher wages would cut into small business bottom lines, and, potentially, force layoffs.
“The real minimum wage is $0,” said House Minority Whip David Place, a Burrillville Republican. “That’s what they make when they get fired because business can’t afford to keep them.”
Consumers could suffer, too, warned Rep. Paul Santucci, a Smithfield Republican. Santucci took an informal survey of owners of four local restaurants, a farm, a nursing home and a repair shop. All told him they would likely have to raise their prices if base wages increase, Santucci said Thursday.
“For small business owners, policies that continually increase labor costs will force them to make difficult decisions,” the Rhode Island Business Coalition wrote in a March 5 letter to lawmakers. “They may be forced to cut jobs and/or reduce their employees’ hours, if they are not forced to close entirely. Rising labor costs may also increase the speed at which employers decide to invest in technology to replace lower-wage workers. This means fewer jobs for Rhode Island workers, and ultimately undermines the progress our economy needs to make.”
The coalition in its letter also pointed out that Rhode Island already has the seventh highest hourly minimum wage in the country — accompanied by Massachusetts — having hiked the base pay for hourly workers in eight of the last nine years.
Sen. Leonidas Raptakis framed Rhode Island’s high ranking as a benefit, rather than a detriment, noting that the Ocean State’s hourly base pay ranked 14th in 2013, before lawmakers began a series of regular minimum wage hikes.
“If we do this today, we’re going to be number 6, then maybe in 2017, we’ll be number 5,” said Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat and former small business owner.
Raptakis unsuccessfully proposed two amendments on the Senate floor Thursday: one to raise the minimum wage to $17 immediately, with subsequent increases based upon the consumer price index, and a second to create a legislative study panel on the topic. Both amendments failed.
Earlier in the session, progressive Democratic Rep. Enrique Sanchez also suggested an alternative, proposing a $22 hourly minimum starting Jan. 1, which failed to gain enough traction to advance out of committee. Addressing colleagues Thursday, Sanchez backed the less-severe $1 boost to hourly wages as “good progress.”
“This is common sense legislation,” Sanchez said. “The reality is that inflation is still high, and we need to make sure our Rhode Islanders are getting paid sufficient wages in order to maintain their lifestyles and support their families at home.”
Majority Whip Katherine Kazarian, an East Providence Democrat, also noted that business owners routinely implore lawmakers to make policies that are predictable and standardized.
“This does exactly that,” Kazarian said.
Union groups, medical professionals and advocates for child and family wellbeing previously expressed support for raising the state’s minimum wage, which they said would boost purchasing power, reduce poverty and lead to better health outcomes.
Lawmakers last updated the state’s minimum wage rate in 2021, approving a set of annual increases that increased hourly rates by $3.50 over a four-year period.
Separate proposals to increase the tipped minimum wage for servers and other hospitality workers — either a one-year bump to $6.75 an hour or gradually to reach $15 hourly by 2031 — remained held for review in committee in each chamber as of Thursday afternoon. Rhode Island has not updated its $3.89 hourly minimum wage for workers who receive tips since 2017.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
