Vermont raises minimum wage to $10.50

Montpelier, Vt. – The Vermont state legislature has voted to raise the minimum wage in the state from $8.73 an hour to $10.50 an hour. The increase will occur gradually during a four-year period and Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is expected to sign the bill.



“We're raising the minimum wage higher in each of the next four years, joining a growing number of states nationwide that are moving on their own in the face of congressional inaction," Gov. Shumlin said in a prepared statement.



In addition, after the state’s minimum wage reaches $10.50 in 2018, it will be indexed to inflation.



Twenty-seven states have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $7.25, but Vermont is the first state to ratify a hike to $10.10, which President Obama and many Democratic members of Congress have publicly supported. Cities including Washington, D.C., and Seattle, have passed legislation to raise their minimum wage beyond the $10.10 rate, but Vermont will be the first state to set its minimum wage at $10.10 or higher.