(WTIC-AM) -- At a General Assembly hearing today, business owners and low-income workers disagreed about whether the state's minimum wage should be increased to $15-an-hour.
East Hartford resident Kyra Franklin says an increase in her wage could help her to someday realize her dream of becoming a teacher.
"With that dream comes tons of bills and student loan debt," Franklin said. "The struggle continues as I currently work at Wendy's making $10.10 an hour while trying to put myself through school."
But Manchester's The Main Pub owner Keith Beaulieu says the restaurant industry has thin profit margins already.
"You're talking about a drastic punch to the face to an industry," Beaulieu said. "My business had one of the best years we have had last year, and I still only made a three percent profit margin."
The governor wants to ramp up the minimum wage to $15-an-hour by the start of 2023. General Assembly Democrats want to do it a year sooner.
After the wage reaches $15-an-hour future automatic increases would be tied to financial benchmarks.
