MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Vermont House has agreed to go along with the Senate and raise the state’s minimum wage from its current $18.73 per hour in stages to $10.50 by 2018.
The House had voted in March to raise the wage to $10.10 this coming January, but ended up adopting the Senate’s position, which is closer to that of Gov. Peter Shumlin, who wanted to get to $10.10 by 2017.
The Senate plan - which gets to $10.00 by 2017 and $10.50 a year later - now goes to the governor for his signature.
The bill calls for annual raises in the wage tied to inflation starting in 2019.
Speeches in support of the compromise bill came Friday night from Democrats, Republicans, Progressives and an independent.
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