BOSTON — The Massachusetts House approved a bill Wednesday that would increase the state’s hourly minimum wage from $8 to $10.50 over the next two years.
The legislation, which passed on a 123-24 vote, would also overhaul the state’s unemployment insurance system and provide basic work standards and protections for nannies and other domestic workers in the state.
The vote was along party lines with most Democrats supporting the bill and most Republicans opposed.
The Massachusetts Senate has already approved separate minimum wage and unemployment insurance bills. The Senate bill would increase the wage to $11 per hour over three years and link automatic future increases to the rate of inflation. The House bill doesn’t link the minimum wage to changes in inflation.
The push to raise the minimum wage in Massachusetts comes as President Barack Obama calls for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.
The House bill now heads to the Senate. Both chambers will need to agree on a compromise version before sending it to Gov. Deval Patrick, who has said he supports increasing the minimum wage.
House Labor Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Conroy said raising the minimum wage in Massachusetts is long overdue. He also said the higher wage won’t make anyone wealthy.
“At its core, a minimum wage bill is about fairness. It is about giving voice to those who for too long have not been heard,” the Wayland Democrat said, adding “this is a minimum wage, not a living wage.”
Both bills also would raise the minimum wage for workers who earn tips. The House bill would increase the minimum tipped wage from $2.63 per hour to $3.75 over three years. The Senate bill is more aggressive, increasing the minimum wage for tipped workers to half of the minimum wage for other workers — or up to $5.50 per hour over three years.
Also possibly appearing on the November ballot is a question that would increase the minimum wage to $10.50 over two years and index future increases to inflation. The question is backed by labor groups.
Massachusetts last increased the minimum wage in 2008.
The House bill includes a requirement that the state minimum wage must always be at least 40 cents higher that the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour. Current law requires the state minimum wage always be at least 10 cents higher than the federal wage.
The Senate bill would require the state wage always be at least 50 cents higher than the federal minimum.
The House bill would also increase the minimum wage for farm workers to $8 an hour from the current rate of $1.60 an hour.
During debate, the House adopted an amendment that would let cities and towns hire student lifeguards at the current minimum wage since municipal budgets are being set now. The new higher wage would kick in after Oct. 1.
Conroy said another key element of the House bill was increased protection for domestic workers. Those include defining what constitutes working time for domestic workers, requiring that any deductions taken for meals or lodging provided to a domestic worker be in compliance with state law, and allowing domestic workers to file complaints with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination if they are harassed or abused. The bill would give the attorney general the authority to investigate those claims.
“Too often we have heard that employers are taking advantage of these caregivers,” Conroy said.
House lawmakers rejected a portion of the bill that would have required individuals who are corporate officers, partners or owners in a company to pay back any unemployment benefits they received after leaving and returning to work during the same year.
The House and Senate bills also would continue to freeze unemployment insurance rates at their current levels.
“With this vote to increase the minimum wage and to reform our unemployment insurance system,” said House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo (D-Winthrop). “the House has strengthened two important aspects of our state’s social and economic fabric. By pairing an increase in minimum wage with UI reform we will improve conditions for working families and provide a vehicle for economic growth. I thank Chairman Conroy, Chairman Dempsey and my colleagues in the House for their intelligent and well-considered action on this bill. The bill passed the House 125-24.”
“It passed the house overwhelmingly and is coupled with unemployment insurance overhauls,” said Rep. Stephen Kulik (D-Worthington). “It’s our objective to lower premiums for a majority of businesses. It’s important to do both of those things.”
Kulik highlighted the differences between the House and Senate proposals, and said that while Beacon Hill’s upper house has “done similar things” before with regards to minimum wage and unemployment insurance, they’ve never passed anything which combines the two.
“The Senate only dealt with the minimum wage, but unemployment insurance is a key component,” agreed Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli (D-Lenox), who represents the hilltowns of Blandford, Russell, and Tolland. “It’s very important.”
Pignatelli, said that the bill also garnered support from members of the minority party.
“Eight or nine Republicans saw the value in this,” he said. “I look at it as a strong bipartisan message. No one can live on $8 an hour. The problem is that minimum wage jobs were summer jobs, second jobs, weekend jobs, that hae now turned into careers. That’s the bigger discussion we need to have in the legislature. How do we change that?”
As the newly elected Representative for the 4th Hampden District last week, John Velis (D-Westfield) has voiced support for an increase in the hourly rate for the state’s lowest paid workers.
“Speaking in broad strokes, I am in favor (of an increase in minimum wage),” he said recently. “But I am interested in speaking to business owners in the district, as many are already paying workers above the minimum wage. So I want to hear the concerns of business owners, if any.”
One area Representative who voted against the measure was Nicholas Boldyga (R-Southwick) who stated that the bill didn’t go far enough in the area of unemployment insurance.
“It won’t slash the costs for small business in any way, shape or form,” he said. “We have an unemployment level that is almost at the national average. Wherever it’s been enacted, minimum wage increases has not brought one person out of poverty, and the small businesses I’ve talked to said they’re going to hike their prices by 10 percent.”
Boldyga said that many House Republicans put forth a wage increase bill of their own which would raise the minimum wage to $9.50 over three years, which was shot down by a wide margin.
“I want to focus on helping families put food on the table, a roof over their heads, and helping families send their kids to college,” he said. “(Raising the minimum wage) has never proven effective, and in fact, will cause many people to lose their jobs.”
