Barbara Kennelly: “We write to support congressional efforts to increase the minimum wage. Many jobs in Connecticut are posted at $4.27 an…”

“We write to support congressional efforts to increase the minimum wage. Many jobs in Connecticut are posted at $4.27 an hour, but we cannot afford to live on yearly incomes of $8,880. We ask how the Government can impose sanctions on welfare benefits and time limits, and at the same time uphold poverty rate income levels in the private sector. I think that is a good question. If we are serious about moving people from welfare to work, we have to make sure that work pays. The proposed modest increase in the minimum wage is a first step--and a necessary step--toward welfare reform, and I would urge my colleagues to take it.”