New Hampshire Democrats aren’t maxed out on trying to set and increase a minimum wage.
The Democrat-led New Hampshire House voted once again Thursday to establish and gradually increase the state’s minimum wage, despite a likely veto from Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.
Sununu vetoed a bill last year that would have created a $10 per hour minimum wage this year and raised it to $12 in 2022, but Democrats believe their chances are better now that surrounding states have increased their minimums. For now, New Hampshire defaults to the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour.
For those arguing for the increase, the hike in a minimum wage could help New Hampshire bridge a growing wealth gap. The Granite State was one of nine states to see an increase to income inequality in recent years, according to U.S. Census numbers released last September.
“We’re becoming a state that is divided between those who are doing very very well, and those that are being left behind,” said Rep. Renny Cushing, a Hampton Democrat. 173,000 New Hampshire residents currently make below $15 an hour, Cushing said.
Others pointed to neighboring New England states, all of which have set state minimum wages. The minimum wage in Maine and Massachusetts is $12 an hour, and in Vermont is $10.78.
“I ask, why should New Hampshire laborers earn less for their labor than any worker in surrounding states?” said Casey Conley, a Dover Democrat.
Thursday’s vote comes amid mixed messages from the Legislature.
The Senate voted Wednesday to further study a bill that would set the minimum at $9.50 now and increase it to $12 in 2022. But the House approved a bill Thursday that would set the minimum at $8.50, rising gradually to $15 in 2025. The 212-155 vote was well short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a veto.
On Thursday, opponents said the bill would push small businesses to reduce hours and increase automation of jobs. The House Republican office called the move “job-killing legislation.”
Rep. Jack Flanagan, a Brookline Republican, pointed to Panera Bread, which he said is one of his favorite restaurants.
“There used to be six or seven people” working at the Panera counter, he said. “Now there’s two” at the counter, and a bank of screens to help customers order without talking to someone.
Raising the minimum wage would encourage companies to make similar cutbacks to hiring and automate more, he said.
Instead, the wages should be set by the market, Flanagan argued, not by the Legislature. “The amount of money someone makes should not be dictated by someone in here,” he said.
“If you want to hurt labor, and you want to hurt the people making minimum wage, you want to put another nail in the coffin, vote for this bill,” Flanagan said.
Monitor reporter Ethan DeWitt contributed to this report.