by Christin Brown | June 30, 2014 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, June 30, 2014 – Because of its failure to help school children in Philadelphia and throughout Pennsylvania, because it deprives veterans and 500,000 residents of much needed health care insurance, and because it requires hocus pocus to make the numbers work, state Sen. Christine Tartaglione said tonight she voted “no” on the $29.1 billion Corbett budget.
“This is the fourth year in a row that the governor has attempted to balance Pennsylvania’s budget on the backs of school children, teachers, social safety net participants, and neighborhoods,” Sen. Tartaglione said. “It will probably be the fourth year in a row that he fails to finish the fiscal year in the black.
“This new spending plan’s reliance on hoping, praying and pulling rabbits out of Republican hats is overwhelming, and is not good policy.
“Pennsylvania taxpayers must hold on, because the fear is the commonwealth’s economy will be worse this time next year. Some think we could be trying to figure out how to pay for a $2.5 billion deficit.
“The governor owns this budget and its $1.5 billion-plus revenue deficit. It is not Gov. Ed Rendell’s fault and he can’t pin this spending plan on the president,” the senator said. “Gov. Corbett is responsible, and he is accountable for this budget fiasco.”
Tartaglione said the governor must yield and finally agree to expand Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program. Failing to do this, she said, is keeping 500,000 state’s residents and 23,000 veterans from being covered with health care insurance.
The new budget strips money from job creation and redevelopment programs, things Tartaglione said are vital in the state’s feeble efforts to generate new jobs.
Specifically, the senator said the governor’s budget deletes half of the Pennsylvania First line, which delivers opportunity grants, customized job training, and industrial sites investments; takes away nearly 50 percent from Keystone Communities programs like Main Street, Elm Street, and housing funds; and it mutes funds that are set aside to attract new businesses.
“The Republicans will trumpet the $300 million added to education in this budget. The truth is that schools have been woefully underfunded during the governor’s term and they have a long way to go to fund stability,” Tartaglione said. “This is especially true in the School District of Philadelphia where the politics of the past week have threatened to annihilate Philly’s school children.
“Once again, because there is a lack of leadership from the governor and an inability to take responsibility for poor budget decisions, school students, teachers, counselors and school nurses will bear the burden of this spending plan,” Tartaglione said.
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by Christin Brown | June 17, 2014 | News Releases
‘Roberto Clemente Way’ Heading to Philly, Sen. Tartaglione Reports
HARRISBURG, June 17, 2014 – A hero to millions of baseball fans and Latinos, state Sen. Christine Tartaglione said today she is pleased the Pennsylvania Senate has approved a bill to make a section of West Erie Avenue in Philly, “Roberto Clemente Way.”
Clemente played Major League baseball for 18 years with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He died on Dec. 31, 1972, while flying to Nicaragua with relief supplies for earthquake victims.
“Roberto Clemente transcended the black and gold baseball uniform he wore for the Pirates,” Tartaglione said following the Senate’s unanimous approval today of House Bill 1831. “He was loved – and continues to be loved, admired and held up as an example of what it means to be a compassionate human being; even where baseball fans root for the Phillies.”
Congress posthumously awarded Clemente its Congressional Gold Medal in 1973, the same year he became the first Latin-born baseball player to be elected to the baseball Hall of Fame.
During his baseball career, Clemente won 12 consecutive golden gloves and won four batting crowns. Despite his success on the field, his top salary as a ball player came in his last year with the Pirates: $150,000.
The Pirate great was flying to Nicaragua to make sure the clothing, food and medical supplies he was delivering were not stolen like previous shipments.
“Roberto Clemente Way will serve as a proud reminder of a man many people still respect and want to be like. We should be as humbled as he would have been on this day. To have his presence in this great neighborhood is a wonderful thing,” Tartaglione said.
Roberto Clemente Way will stretch from North Second Street in Philadelphia to North Front Street.
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by Christin Brown | June 3, 2014 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, June 3, 2014 – State Sen. Christine Tartaglione rallied inside the Capitol today with Raise the Wage PA to again urge legislative action on proposals to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage and deal with the paltry hourly rate established for workers who receive tips.
“Someone in the House or the Senate has proposed a bill to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage 13 times during this session,” Tartaglione said. “And, 13 times, Republican leaders and Gov. Tom Corbett have decided those bills will not be considered even in committee.
“As state after state acts to protect their hardworking, frontline employees, the people who could help Pennsylvania’s hourly employees thumb their nose at them instead,” she said.
“Republicans are blocking proposals to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage because they listen to fear mongering instead of learning what this country’s best economists overwhelmingly conclude about minimum wage increases. That clear message is minimum wage increases help way more than they hurt,” Tartaglione said to applause.
“Our own Department of Labor and Industry found that the last time Pennsylvania increased its minimum wage in 2007, the overall number of jobs ‘hit an all-time high’ and the increase ‘did not materially impact the overall health of Pennsylvania’s economy’,” the senator said.
Sen. Tartaglione has proposed four of the 13 bills to increase the minimum wage. Her current proposals, Senate Bill 1300 and Senate Bill 1099, would incrementally increase the commonwealth’s base hourly rate from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2016 and set the tipped minimum to 70 percent of the regular minimum wage, respectively.
Once enacted, SB 1300 would direct future increases be tied to inflation.
Today was Raise the Wage PA’s lobby day in Harrisburg. The rally was part of the advocacy group’s activities to convince state lawmakers that increasing the minimum wage needs to happen now.
Studies have shown that increasing Pennsylvania’s minimum wage would help more than one million residents.
“The ongoing Republican opposition to increasing the minimum wage and lifting hardworking men and women out of poverty makes no sense,” Tartaglione said. “It is incalcitrance, only, that is keeping this from happening in Pennsylvania. Gov. Corbett is the head incalcitrant here. Hopefully, he and leading members of the GOP will finally listen to us today and increase the minimum wage.”
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by Christin Brown | April 8, 2014 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, April 8, 2014 – With another state voting overwhelmingly to increase its minimum wage, state Sen. Christine Tartaglione said today that Republicans and Gov. Tom Corbett are in danger of telling tens of thousands of hardworking Pennsylvanians they aren’t worth the same consideration.
Sen. Tartaglione said she is also pleased to see that the U.S. Senate approved a bill to restore extended benefits to the country’s long-time unemployed.
“Maryland has now joined New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Delaware as our neighbors who show they care about the people who must work minimum wage jobs. Pennsylvania’s continued inaction on this front becomes more pathetic by the vote,” Tartaglione said.
“Make no mistake about why this is not happening in the commonwealth. The only reason why Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is not moving up with every other state’s is Republican leadership and Gov. Tom Corbett,” she said.
Tartaglione introduced a new bill, Senate Bill 1300, last month to incrementally increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2016. Maryland voted yesterday to make its base hourly rate the same $10.10 by 2018. Her proposal to increase PA’s tipped minimum wage to 70 percent of the regular minimum wage, Senate Bill 1099, is also waiting for consideration.
“What is more outrageous,” Tartaglione said,” is there are other proposals before the General Assembly that Republican leaders and Gov. Corbett could consider. But they have proven by their silence that this is more about them and less about the people they represent.”
Since proposing SB 1300 March 18, a new coalition, “Raise the Wage PA,” has formed; Connecticut increased its minimum to $10.10; AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka began to actively push for the nationwide adoption of the $10.10 hourly rate, and now Maryland has approved an increase in its minimum.
In addition to the higher base hourly wage, Tartaglione’s SB 1300 would increase the fines and penalties for companies that violate the new law, provide for increased enforcement of the state’s minimum wage act, and it would allow municipalities that have a higher cost-of-living to consider a higher minimum wage.
Tartaglione also noted the U.S. Senate’s vote to extend federal jobless benefits through May 31.
“This bill faces an uncertain future in the U.S. House, but the Senate’s vote is a huge step forward for about 2 million workers who have been devastated by the recession and need this assistance to help them get back on their feet,” Sen. Tartaglione said.
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by Christin Brown | March 18, 2014 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, March 18, 2014 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said today she will replace her proposal to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $ 9 an hour with a new bill that would increase it to $10.10 by 2016.
Minimum wage increases under Senate Bill 1300 would be tied to inflation once the base hourly rate hits $10.10.
“A rising tide lifts all boats,” Sen. Tartaglione said during a rally to increase the minimum wage with “Raise the Wage PA.” “Pennsylvania’s hardworking women and men must have a fairer shake when it comes to paydays. They are drowning today with the paltry $7.25 they make each hour.
“To the critics who say an increase in the minimum wage will hurt the economy: you are wrong. Studies and history show that increases in the minimum have very little to no negative impact on the economy,” she said.
Citing a University of California-Berkeley study released last week, Sen. Tartaglione said the evidence in that review shows increases in the base hourly rate might mean small rises in the prices of products but it also sparks higher worker productivity and a more positive impact on businesses.
While other state lawmakers have proposed bills to provide a higher minimum, Tartaglione said she believes an incremental increase to $10.10 an hour is the more reasonable compromise. However, the senator’s new proposal would allow municipalities that have a higher cost-of-living to consider a higher minimum wage.
“We must act now to make sure people who are working 60-to-80-hour weeks and crazy hours are still not stuck in poverty once they are paid,” Tartaglione said. “And, once this becomes law, we must make sure minimum wage workers are covered if inflation affects their buying power.”
“Increasing the minimum wage benefits everyone,” she said.
In addition to the higher minimum wage, Tartaglione said SB 1300 would increase the fines and penalties for companies that violate the new law, once adopted. It would also provide for increased enforcement of the state’s minimum wage act.
The Philadelphia Democrat had proposed a legislative package to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum from $7.25 to $9/hour (SB 858) and the tipped minimum from $2.83/hour to 70 percent of the regular minimum. While her latest proposal would increase the minimum wage even further, she said she continues to support raising the tipped wage to 70 percent of the minimum.
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by Christin Brown | February 4, 2014 | News Releases
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 4, 2014 – Despite his claims to the contrary, Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed $29.4 billion budget for the 2014-’15 fiscal year continues to slight Pennsylvania’s workers, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said today following his annual budget address.
“Corbett talked about ‘Pennsylvania’s comeback’ but that cute campaign slogan flies in the face of the reality of how this Pennsylvania economy continues to kick workers in the stomach,” Tartaglione said.
“The governor’s budget wish list is for a state in an alternate universe. He has failed to implement policies that create jobs in Philadelphia and across the commonwealth. His continued reluctance to demand an increase in the minimum wage continues to hurt citizens who have to work two or more minimum wage jobs to make ends meet,” she said.
Tartaglione said Corbett’s insistence that Pennsylvania has replaced nearly all of the jobs lost during the first three years of his administration is also a farce.
“Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate is 6.9 percent because people who have been trying to find employment have stopped looking out of sheer frustration, not because they have found suitable replacement jobs,” the senator said.
“He said he is seeing Philadelphia as a stronger place. How would he know? He was afraid to come to the city, according to the most recent news reports.
“There simply is not a big enough coat to hide the problems of Pennsylvania that have ballooned since Gov. Corbett took office. From job loss, failure to address health care, fiscal health, education, social safety net issues and the minimum wage the problems have spiraled,” Tartaglione said.
Sen. Tartaglione has proposed two bills to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum and tipped-minimum wages. SB 858 would hike the minimum from $7.25/hour to at least $9/hour, while SB 1099 would hike the base wage for waiters, waitresses and others to 70 percent of the minimum wage rate. Future hourly wage increases would be tied to the Consumer Price Index.
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by Christin Brown | January 29, 2014 | News Releases
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 29, 2014 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today applauded President Barack Obama for his decision to use his executive powers to increase the minimum wage to $10.10/hour for new federal contract workers.
She urged Pennsylvania’s legislature and Gov. Tom Corbett to similarly act to raise the state’s base hourly rate, as well as the tipped hourly minimum.
“We need decisive leadership on the minimum wage. It is why I have been working non-stop to raise the base hourly rate in Pennsylvania to a level that lifts our hard-working men and women out of poverty and into a more self-sustaining quality of life,” Tartaglione said.
“The president’s decision to lift the minimum for new federal contract workers is great news and his actions must be replicated now. Other states, including our neighboring Ohio, New York and New Jersey, have already increased their minimum wage rates for 2014.
“Better yet, New Jersey and Ohio have tied future increases to the rise or fall of the Consumer Price Index, which removes the political opposition to this most basic of social safety net provisions,” she said.
Tartaglione’s Senate Bill 858 would raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25/hour to $9/hour by 2015.
“Unfortunately, my bill has been before lawmakers for too long and I think it should be amended to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum to at least $10 an hour,” the senator said today. “I also believe future minimum wage increases should be tied to the Consumer Price Index.”
Tartaglione has also crafted legislation, Senate Bill 1099, to increase the minimum hourly rate for tipped employees to 70 percent of the regular minimum wage. The tipped minimum has been stuck at $2.83/hour since 1999.
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by Christin Brown | January 8, 2014 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, Jan. 8, 2014 – A just-finished report on violence prevention in Pennsylvania should be acted upon as soon as the legislature returns to session Jan. 13, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said today in a letter to a key lawmaker.
The “Report of the Advisory Committee on Violence Prevention” listed 44 recommendations in its 295-page report.
Tartaglione said one of the panel’s important suggestions is to require gun owners to promptly report lost or stolen firearms.
The Philadelphia Democrat has proposed two bills to shut down the illicit ownership of found or stolen firearms. Her first measure, Senate Bill 810, would require weapon owners to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours of their disappearance. Senate Bill 811 would require people who sell or transfer firearms in Philadelphia to register those transactions with state police.
“This is not a problem isolated to larger cities, but is widespread in cities of all sizes, economies and demographics throughout the state,” Tartaglione said in a letter to Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the author of a resolution that brought the study of violence in the commonwealth.
“I believe, as do the members of the Joint State Government Commission, that requiring a 24-hour reporting requirement for lost or stolen firearms is a necessary public duty that we can no longer ignore. As such, I am requesting your assistance in the movement of S.B. 810 from the Judiciary Committee,” she wrote.
The Joint State Government Commission’s report on violence in Pennsylvania was ordered by the adoption nearly a year ago of Senate Resolution 6 “to conduct a thorough and comprehensive analysis of violent crime and mass shootings, as well as other topics related to those issues.”
The report calls its 44 recommendations “realistic policy and statutory steps that can improve prevention and augment responsiveness to sudden, sensational outbursts of violence in schools and other public gathering places, ensuring safer schools and preventing those persons most likely to act out violently from doing so.”
Recommendation #20 would “add a new provision to the Uniform Firearms Act to require prompt reporting of lost or stolen firearms.”
The committee confirmed that it is difficult to quantify the number of lost and stolen guns from private individuals. However, under U.S. law, federal firearms licensees are required to report the theft or loss of any firearm to the ATF within 48 hours.
In 2012, Pennsylvania was the leader in the number of lost or stolen firearms from federal firearms licensees at 1,502. That was nearly 10 percent of all lost or stolen firearms in that category in the country, the study says. Texas, Maryland and New York were the other top states.
“Not only is the intent of SB 810 a direct recommendation of the report released by the Joint State Government Commission’s Advisory Committee on Violence Prevention, but also, this legislation serves as a critical step in making the commonwealth a safer place for everyone who visits, works in and lives here,” Tartaglione said.
To read the committee’s full report, click here.
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by Christin Brown | December 24, 2013 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, Dec. 24, 2013 – Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said today the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program has invested a total of $7 million to help the expansion of the St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and make improvements at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
St. Christopher’s is receiving $3 million while Fox Chase is getting $4 million.
“RACP is designed to support the improvement of Pennsylvania’s economic, cultural, civic and historic projects, and these latest investments are important holiday gifts,” Tartaglione said. “These new investments not only will help to create jobs, but they will lead to a better quality of life as the people who receive care at St. Christopher’s and Fox Chase will benefit.”
The RACP grants were part of a group of 58 awards announced Monday by the Pennsylvania Office of the Budget.
The total dollar amount for all projects is $133 million. Collectively they are expected to create or sustain some 45,000 jobs in 24 counties, including Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery.
Projects are selected based upon their job-creation potential, their economic impact, as well as their viability and construction readiness.
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by Christin Brown | December 17, 2013 | News Releases
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 17, 2013 – With thousands of Pennsylvanians buying the most popular Christmas gifts and planning family get-togethers by plane, train and automobile, state Sens. Christine M. Tartaglione and Vincent Hughes today said too many people will not be able to afford an average holiday because they earn a poverty-level minimum wage.
The Democratic lawmakers said the time is now to begin to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $9/hour.
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“A hardworking minimum wage earner has to work 64 hours to cover the costs of traveling to be with loved ones for the holiday,” Sen. Tartaglione, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Labor & Industry Committee, said. “And that is only if they don’t have to buy food, pay the rent, or cover utilities. But nearly all of them do.”
“It costs about $50 to provide an average Christmas dinner, according to the American Farm Bureau,” Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee Chairman Hughes said. “A minimum wage worker has to work an entire day to be able to pay for that but chances are good they will not even consider doing so due to the demands on their cash.”
Tartaglione has sponsored Senate Bill 858 to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25/hour to $9/hour by 2015. She has also crafted legislation to increase the minimum hourly rate for tipped employees to 70 percent of the regular minimum wage. The tipped minimum has been $2.83/hour since 1999.
“As a wheelchair attendant working for a subcontractor at the airport I get paid $5.25 per hour plus tips, which usually averages out to little more than the minimum wage,” said John Stewart, a wheelchair attendant at Philadelphia International Airport who participated in today’s press conference. “While my wages stay the same, the cost of food, transportation, rent, clothing and medicine keeps going up making it more difficult to get by.”
Stewart said he is making less annually than he was 30 years ago. He emphasized he is seeking a minimum wage increase that keeps pace with the cost of living.
“If ever there is a time to truly be compassionate about the plight of women and men who are working their fingers to the bone and are earning little in return, it is now,” Tartaglione said. “And John Stewart is a good example of why.”
“For Pennsylvania’s minimum wage workers, the holidays are the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future – rolled into one repeating nightmare – every year,” Hughes said. “They don’t get to wake-up from their nightmare, as Ebenezer Scrooge does, to enjoy the holidays and truly revel in the joy of giving. They can’t afford it.”
The senators urged lawmakers to quickly consider and adopt SB 858 and SB 1099 to provide a more solid step for minimum wage earners.
President Obama called for Congress to adopt a minimum age increase this month, the lawmakers said. Also, 10 other states, including Ohio, have upped their base hourly wage and also tied future increases to inflation.
“Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is mired with a belief, spawned and massaged by Gov. Tom Corbett and some leading Republicans, that corporations will not be able to afford adding another $1.75/hour to the state’s minimum wage rate,” Tartaglione said. “Why? Those same corporations can afford skyrocketing bonuses.”
“Businesses cannot afford to not increase the minimum wage,” Hughes said. “Employees are more productive if they don’t have to worry about life issues. Having to work multiple minimum wage jobs – because they are the only jobs many adults can find – is a problem for everyone and is a major worry.
“Even Scrooge would pay more than Pennsylvania’s $7.25/hour minimum,” Hughes said.
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