Connecticut proposes fining large companies that pay workers so little they depend on welfare

Connecticut gained widespread attention in recent years as a national leader in Democratic circles by increasing the minimum wage and passing a first-in-the-nation statewide mandate for paid sick days for some service employees.Business lobbyists battled against those measures as job-killers, while liberal lawmakers hailed Connecticut as a progressive leader for workers.
Now, union members are trying to take a third step with another first-in-the-nation bill that would place fines on large employers with more than 500 workers who fail to pay wages of at least $15 per hour. The fine would be $1 per hour per employee and could raise as much as $305 million for the state in the 2017 fiscal year that could then be used for child care and for home care for the elderly.

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