by Christin Brown | January 30, 2019 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
In collaboration with the governor and state Rep. Patty Kim, the senator will introduce legislation that will directly help more than one-third of Pennsylvania’s workers.
HARRISBURG, PA, January 30, 2019 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) today joined Gov. Tom Wolf, state Rep. Patty Kim, many of their legislative colleagues, and many worker advocates to announce their plan to raise Pennsylvania’s outdated minimum wage, which has stagnated at just over $7 per hour for the last 12 years.
Under the new proposal, Pennsylvania’s minimum wage would rise from the federal minimum of $7.25 to $12 on July 1, 2019. It would then increase an additional 50 cents per year until reaching $15 in 2025, after which it would be linked to annual cost of living adjustments. Tartaglione will soon introduce this plan as legislation in the Senate, while Kim will introduce it in the House.
“Minimum wage is one of the most important issues facing us as elected officials and as a Commonwealth because it directly impacts so many of our constituents. Enacting our legislation would give raises to 2.1 million Pennsylvanians, who represent 37 percent of the total workforce,” Sen. Tartaglione said, quoting data compiled by the Keystone Research Center.
Inflation has grown by more than 20 percent nationwide in the last dozen years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and 29 states, along with the District of Columbia, have raised their minimum wages above the federal minimum – including California and Washington at $12, and New York at $11.10.
New minimum wage raises took effect in 21 states this month, and New Jersey lawmakers are planning to vote tomorrow on a plan to raise that state’s minimum wage to $15 over the next five years. All six of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states have higher minimum wages than the $7.25 in effect throughout the Commonwealth.
“Raising the Minimum Wage is long overdue. I know this because I sponsored Pennsylvania’s last successful Minimum Wage legislation in 2006,” Sen. Tartaglione said. “At the time, all the naysayers warned us that we would force Pennsylvania companies out of business and drive away countless jobs. These doomsday predictions never came to pass. Undaunted, our critics are making the same argument now. — that businesses can’t afford to pay a fair minimum wage, A LIVING WAGE!”
“(Pennsylvania) workers and their families would earn an additional $9.1 billion over five years, money that they will spend in their communities in support of businesses,” Senator Tartaglione said. “This new prosperity would benefit people from all walks of life – all ages, all races, all religions, and both women and men. It would help workers in our major cities, those who live in the suburbs, and our rural workforce.”
Wolf stated that raising the minimum wage would reduce demand for public assistance and save taxpayers a combined $155 million over the next two years. Nearly 17,000 people would leave the state-funded Medicaid program next year, and another 51,000 would leave the following year. A portion of that savings will be reinvested to raise wages for workers who provide Department of Human Services-supported childcare and home care for seniors and people with disabilities.
“Pennsylvania must be a place where hard work is rewarded. But our minimum wage hasn’t changed in a decade and too many hardworking people are struggling to get by,” said Governor Wolf. “Raising the minimum wage lets people afford the basics, like food, rent and transportation.
“It also lets people work their way off of public assistance rather than having taxpayers subsidizing employers that are paying poverty wages. One fair wage saves tax dollars, grows the middle class and creates new customers for businesses, which benefits all of us.”
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact William Kenny at 215-533-0440 or email at William.Kenny@pasenate.com.
by Christin Brown | January 8, 2019 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, PA, January 8, 2019 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) has been reappointed as minority chairwoman of the Senate Labor & Industry Committee, where she will continue her work to protect the rights and promote the interests of Pennsylvania’s workforce.
Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa Jr. announced the appointments of minority chairs for all 22 of the chamber’s standing committees yesterday for the 2019-20 legislative session, which began on January 1.
“As a former union organizer and business representative, I am keenly aware of and focused on the issues affecting all Pennsylvania workers,” Sen. Tartaglione said. “During my 24 years in the Senate, I have taken a leadership role in Harrisburg and in my home district on priorities including raising the minimum wage, workplace safety, wage equality, overtime pay protection, protection from discrimination and harassment, and workforce development. I look forward to continuing my collaboration with the Labor Committee, labor organizations, independent workers, and employers to further these paramount objectives and to grow family-sustaining jobs.”
Prior to being elected to the Senate in 1994, Tartaglione served as an organizer and business representative for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776. During the 2005-06 legislative session, her bill to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage was enacted. The legislature hasn’t raised the minimum wage again since then.
In the 2009-10 session, Tartaglione’s bill to address the Commonwealth’s short-term and long-term healthcare workforce challenges and to ensure an adequate supply of quality workers in the industry was enacted. During the 2011-12 session, her bill to fund the hiring of additional Pennsylvania State Police troopers was enacted.
Additionally, Tartaglione has taken a leading role in extending unemployment compensation benefits for jobless workers, and in providing for a shared work alternative to the termination of job positions by employers.
The 2019-20 Pennsylvania Senate session is scheduled to resume on January 15, when Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman will be sworn into office.
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact William Kenny at 215-533-0440 or email at William.Kenny@pasenate.com.
by Christin Brown | January 1, 2019 | News Releases
During a ceremony in the Pennsylvania Capitol, State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione and her new and returning Senate colleagues were sworn into office.
HARRISBURG, PA, January 1, 2019 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) today commenced her seventh consecutive four-year term as she was sworn into office at the Pennsylvania Capitol alongside 24 colleagues who were reelected or newly elected to the Senate in November.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Associate Justice Kevin M. Dougherty led Democratic senators in reciting the oath of office. Tartaglione’s mother, longtime Philadelphia City Commissioner Marge Tartaglione, took part in the ceremony by holding the Holy Bible used by her daughter to take the oath.
Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor administered the oath to Republicans. The 25 newly sworn senators will comprise half of the 50-member legislative body during the 2019-20 session. Twenty-five other senators are now midway through their current four-year terms.
“I am honored and proud that the voters of the 2nd Senatorial district chose me once again to serve them as their advocate and voice in Harrisburg,” Sen. Tartaglione said. “I enthusiastically accept this responsibility with the intention of continuing to fight for the best interests of the working people, retirees, school children, and community-based organizations of the district and throughout the entire state.”
In the 2018 election, Democrats gained five seats in the Senate and reduced the Republican majority to 29-21. Tartaglione noted that the Senate welcomed five new women senators today. Women now hold 11 seats, a net gain of four over the 2017-18 session. When Tartaglione was first elected in 1994, she became only the fifth woman ever elected to the PA Senate.
“I am thrilled to see that Democrats and women are finally gaining significant ground in their struggles for equitable representation in the Senate,” Tartaglione said. “More than 51 percent of the Pennsylvania population is female, while Democrats comprise the largest political party in the state by more than 815,000 registered voters. It’s only fair that those statistical facts are reflected in the composition of the Senate.”
With the 2019-20 legislative session at hand, Tartaglione said she will continue to push for workplace rights, educational opportunities, and healthcare protections for the people of the 2nd Senatorial District and all of Pennsylvania.
“We are at a critical juncture for our state and for the nation, a time when the economic gap between the very rich and the rest of us continues to widen, and when many corporations, large and small, along with their political allies are driving a coordinated campaign to repeal long-established labor protections, keep wages low, undermine affordable healthcare, and jeopardize retirement security,” Tartaglione said.
“History tells us that a thriving middle class is the foundation of a prosperous society, and that strong labor unions support a vibrant middle class. That’s why I will continue to lead the fight in Harrisburg for a family-sustaining minimum wage and for fair labor laws that allow unions to balance the playing field between workers and management.”
“Education is another pillar of a strong middle class and prosperous economy, so I will continue to advocate in the Capitol for equitable public-school funding, along with apprenticeship and vocational programs that will prepare future generations of workers for success.”
Along with these vital initiatives, Tartaglione also maintains a keen focus on the state’s opioid epidemic, which has negatively impacted the 2nd district as much as any area of Pennsylvania.
“Working together with state and local officials, healthcare providers, community organizations, the recovery community, and those afflicted by opioid use disorder, I am determined to develop solutions to a problem that is killing Pennsylvanians by the thousands, solutions that will deliver help directly where it’s needed and will enhance the quality of life in affected communities.”
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact William Kenny at 215-533-0440 or email at William.Kenny@pasenate.com.
