RI Promise, $15 Minimum Wage Approved By RI House

PROVIDENCE, RI — Lawmakers approved bills this week that, if approved, would raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 and make the Rhode Island Promise scholarship permanent.

Under the minimum wage plan, the rate would go up on the following schedule:

• Jan. 1, 2022: $12.25
• Jan. 1, 2023: $13
• Jan. 1, 2024: $14
• Jan. 1, 2025: $15

Rhode Island's minimum wage is currently$11.50, after the last increase in October 2020.

"At last, Rhode Island is on the path toward breaking the cycle of poverty for those at the bottom of the wage spectrum," said Rep. David Bennett, the bill's sponsor. "Minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation over the decades, and our neighboring states have already taken this step toward making it closer to a living wage. This legislation is a long time coming, the result of many years of advocacy by many on behalf of working people."

House lawmakers also approved a bill sponsored by Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi that would repeal a law that allows employers to pay employees with disabilities less than the minimum wage.

"Disabled individuals are entitled to the same rights, protections and dignity as all Rhode Islanders," Shekarchi said. "Of course they should be protected by our minimum wage laws. While I’m relieved that state day programs for the disabled stopped engaging in this practice a few years ago, there’s no excuse for any law that allows anyone to take advantage of disabled people and pay them less than other workers. We must repeal this law to ensure that no one abuses disabled Rhode Islanders in this way ever again."

Also on Thursday, lawmakers approved a bill to make the RI Promise scholarship permanent. The program offers eligible graduating high school seniors up to two years of free tuition to the Community College of Rhode Island.

The program, introduced in 2017 by then-Gov. Gina Raimondo, is set to expire with the high school class of 2021.

"The Promise program is an excellent example of how we can prioritize affordable college options for all Rhode Islanders," Shekarchi said. "The best investment we can make to help individuals achieve their goals is to give them the access to a college education, which is the pathway to a brighter future."

To keep the scholarship, students must be full-time and qualify for in-state tuition, maintain a GPA of at least 2.5 and remain on track to graduate on time. RI Promise is a "last-dollar" scholarship program, meaning it covers the remaining cost of tuition after Pell Grants and other scholarships are factored in.

The bills now move to the Senate, which approved companion legislation for the minimum wage hike in February, and for RI Promise in April.