Minimum wage's influence on Vt. While stagnant wages and
sluggish job growth continue to cloud the post-recession
recovery, there’s a bright spot for Vermont: Approximately
11,000 of the state’s lowest-paid workers got a raise on Jan. 1
as the state’s minimum wage increased by 14 cents to $8.60.
Thanks to a law signed by then-Gov. Jim Douglas in 2005, the
state’s minimum wage automatically adjusts every year to keep
pace with the rising cost of living — this key policy reform,
known as “indexing,” has already been adopted by nine other
states as well. As a result, the wages paid to those Vermonters
who wake up each morning to do the hard work of cleaning office
buildings, serving food, and providing care for the elderly will
not gradually erode each year as the cost of basic expenses like
food, gasoline, and utilities continues to rise. As the country
debates how best to create jobs and accelerate the economic
recovery, our elected officials in Washington could learn from
the example that Vermont has set in a