HARRISBURG, April 22, 2015 – Because “a rising tide lifts all boats,” state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said today a new study shows that if Pennsylvania finally approves a minimum wage of $ 10.10 an hour, residents in each of the state’s 67 counties will benefit.
“History has proven, time and again, that minimum wage increases do not cause widespread pain, despite the claims of critics,” Sen. Tartaglione said this morning during a press conference with Raise The Wage PA.
“The new Keystone Research Center study is one more finger in the dyke of opposition. The KRC’s work clearly shows that a higher Pennsylvania minimum would help workers who have not received a pay raise since 2007.
“When prices for food, clothing and housing have dramatically increased, the earning power of $7.25 has dropped,” Tartaglione said. “Pennsylvania cannot afford to keep minimum wage workers impoverished. We need $10.10 approved now; tipped minimum wage earners need a raise, too.”
Pennsylvania’s tipped minimum wage is $2.83 an hour and has not increased since 1999.
Senate Bill 195 would increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $8.67 an hour by July 1 and $10.10 an hour by Jan. 1., while Senate Bill 196 would increase the tipped minimum to $3.95 an hour on July 1, and move it to 70 percent of the regular minimum at the start of 2016.
Los otros tres proyectos de ley del paquete de salario mínimo del senador Tartaglione incluyen:
- Senate Bill 197, which would provide annual cost-of-living increases for minimum wage earners based on the Consumer Price Index,
- El proyecto de ley 198 del Senado, que modernizaría la ley estatal de pago y cobro de salarios para aumentar los requisitos de mantenimiento de registros para los empresarios y las obligaciones de ejecución del Departamento de Trabajo e Industria del estado. También permitiría a los empleados recibir salarios atrasados y el doble de esos salarios en concepto de daños y perjuicios, y
- El proyecto de ley 199 del Senado, que prohibiría a los empresarios deducir comisiones o gastos bancarios de las propinas de los empleados cuando un cliente pague su cuenta con tarjeta de crédito.
Not only would a higher minimum wage help thousands of workers, Sen. Tartaglione said it would serve as an economic stimulus for many local Pa. economies.
While the KRC study says a $10.10 minimum wage would help 1.2 million Pennsylvania workers, it also says the raise would put nearly $2 billion into the state’s economy.
Nearly one-in-four workers in the state’s 48 rural counties and more than 700,000 workers, or 18 percent, in the state’s urban counties will benefit, Tartaglione said.
“More than 200,000 people in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties would also get a boost,” the senator said.
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