Obama salutes Malloy on minimum wage

White House photo

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other governors meeting at the White House with Vice President Joseph Biden.

In a meeting Friday at the White House, President Obama praised Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as one of the governors who are pushing his call for a $10.10 minimum wage at the state level.

“Many of the governors in this room are pushing to raise their state’s minimum wages to benefit more working families and help to grow their economies,” Obama said, according to a White House transcript. “Governor Abercrombie, Governor Inslee, Governor Malloy, Governor O’Malley, Governor Patrick, Governor Quinn all focused on this in their State of the State addresses.”

Malloy is in Washington for a meeting of the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association. On Thursday night, Malloy attended a DGA fundraiser headlined by the president.

The DGA is expected to play a major role supporting Malloy’s re-election this fall. In 2010, the DGA spent nearly $1.8 million in independent expenditures in the Connecticut race, mostly on television advertising.

Obama has little chance of winning passage of a law raising the $7.25 federal minimum wage, but Malloy is expected to be more successful convincing the Democratic-controlled General Assembly to raise the state minimum wage, which rose to $8.70 last month and already is scheduled to go $9 next January.

The governor’s election-year proposal would amend next year’s increase to $9.15, then commit the state to hitting $9.60 in January 2016 and $10.10 the following January.