By Lynn Arditi
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state Senate voted to raise Rhode Island's minimum wage 25 cents to $8 an hour beginning on January 1, 2014.
The vote was 31 to 6.
The measure now goes before the House.
If approved, the increase would make Rhode Island's minimum wage identical to Massachusett's.
Rhode Island's current minimum wage of $7.75 per hour is also lower than in Connecticut ($8.25) but higher than in New Hampshire ($7.25) and Maine ($7.50). Vermont's minimum wage is $8.60 an hour, the highest in New England.
(The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.)