HARTFORD, Conn. — The $15 for CT Coalition congratulated House Democrats today after the Connecticut House of Representatives passed a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2023.

“We are pleased that a $15 minimum wage bill has passed the House and we encourage the Senate to quickly pass it as well,” said Juan Hernandez, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU, a $15 for CT Coalition member. “It has taken years of work from advocates and working people, but we finally stand on the brink of raising basic living standards in Connecticut and diminishing our state’s standing as one of the most economically unequal in the nation. Although the bill contains compromises, it is still marks a major step forward for hundreds of thousands of minimum wage workers and for our general economic prosperity.”

“Workers across Connecticut like me are celebrating the historic passage of the $15 bill in the Connecticut House today, and we encourage the State Senate to follow suit as soon as possible,” said Richard Grimes, Burger Kings worker and Fight for $15 leader.  “Working families should not have to couch surf, live in a car, in a homeless shelter, or under a bridge, as I and many of the workers I know have been forced to do. We should be able to pay rent and have a meal without thinking, ‘should I save this money for the gas bill?’ Increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour would put an additional $1.2 billion a year into the paychecks of Connecticut’s lowest paid workers and it will flow directly back into our local stores and business – helping all of Connecticut to thrive.”

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The $15 for CT Coalition includes local labor unions and worker advocacy organizations fighting to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.