by Christin Brown | February 6, 2024 | feature, Minimum Wage, News Releases
Harrisburg, PA − February 6, 2024 − Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Whip Christine Tartaglione released the following statement following Governor Shapiro’s budget address:
“The Governor’s address today lays out a roadmap that moves our Commonwealth from being a follower to a leader in our nation. The historic funding proposals for education, transportation, and economic development will boost Pennsylvania to the forefront of the issues facing our Commonwealth. Coupled with calls to raise our minimum wage and increase funding and pay for crucial areas like home healthcare and childcare, we have the opportunity to make dramatic investments in our collective future.”
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by Christin Brown | July 7, 2023 | feature, Minimum Wage, News Releases
Harrisburg, PA – July 7, 2023 − Sunday, July 9th, marks seventeen years since Pennsylvania lawmakers last raised the minimum wage.
On July 9th, 2006, Governor Ed Rendell was joined by Senator Christine Tartaglione, Senator Vincent Hughes, and Senator Jay Costa, to sign Senate Bill 1090, Senator Tartaglione’s legislation that raised PA’s minimum wage to $7.15.
“When Senate Bill 1090 was signed into law in 2006, it was a promise to continue to fight for our Commonwealth’s lowest earners and ensure that the needs of Pennsylvanian’s lowest earners are never forgotten or cast aside,” said Senator Tartaglione. “I reintroduced Senate Bill 12 because I, like so many of my colleagues refuse to sit idly by as the Pennsylvanians that earn our poverty level minimum wage continue to struggle to make ends meet. Pennsylvania needs its government to act swiftly and decisively on behalf of our Commonwealth’s workers that need it most.”
Senate Democrats continue to support a higher minimum wage. In June, House Democrats passed a bill that would raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026. Senator Christine Tartaglione (D- Philadelphia) introduced Senate Bill 12, a similar bill.
“Pennsylvania is failing our workers,” said Senator Vincent Hughes (D-Phila./Montgomery). “For seventeen years now, Republican state lawmakers have done nothing to guarantee hard working people get paid fairly and adequately for contributions to our economy. I was proud to join Governor Rendell in 2006 to support pay that benefited workers and families. I hope to join Governor Shapiro one day to end seventeen years of inaction for minimum wage workers in Pennsylvania.”
Pennsylvania’s current minimum wage sits at the federal requirement of $7.25. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is far from a livable wage in the state. The cost of housing and other living expenses has continued to rise while Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has remained stagnant for over a decade.
A minimum wage increase to $15 an hour would impact one million workers who are currently making less than $15 an hour in Pennsylvania.
“Everyone who works for a living deserves to earn a living wage, and the current minimum wage in PA is not one. It is long past time to do right by our working families and make sure we can raise our children on one good job,” said Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny). “I have been proud to champion a living wage for every Pennsylvanian, and I look forward to working alongside fellow legislators, workers, and activists to deliver on this crucial value.”
Senate Democrats stand ready to vote on the House bill, but Senate Republicans, who are in the majority, must bring it to the floor for a vote. Meanwhile, every state surrounding Pennsylvania has raised the minimum wage. New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio, all pay a higher minimum wage. Pennsylvania is in last place when it comes to delivering for workers.
“Raising the minimum wage is critical to respecting the dignity of hardworking people so that they can afford housing and food, and so that they don’t have to choose between food, heat, clothing, and other basic needs,” said Senator Art Haywood (D-Phila./Montgomery), who has also been a fierce advocate for raising PA’s minimum wage.
He continued, “This is about helping parents and allowing them to be parents, no longer having to work two or three jobs and having greater freedom to provide their children with a better education, enrich their young ones with opportunities like recreational activities, be more active in their communities, and spend time with their families.”
by Christin Brown | July 9, 2021 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by Christin Brown | July 9, 2021 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
PHILADELPHIA, July 9, 2021 – On the 15th anniversary of the signing, state Sens. Vincent J. Hughes and Christine M. Tartaglione today marked the enactment of Pennsylvania’s last minimum wage legislation with a reenactment and rally with state leaders at the site of the 2006 ceremony.
Hughes and Tartaglione were joined by Gov. Tom Wolf, former Gov. Ed Rendell, U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, and House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton along with House and Senate Democrats to remember the fight to get Senate Bill 1090 passed and to recognize the leaders who continue to speak out against poverty wages in Pennsylvania.
“My landmark 2006 minimum wage bill represented what intelligent, conscientious legislators with contrasting points of view can achieve when we dedicate ourselves to finding common ground. We fought and clawed our way through misinformation, dubious studies, and corporate greed to deliver relief for 400,000 Pennsylvania workers and their families,” said Tartaglione, who was the author and prime mover behind Senate Bill 1090 (Act 112) in 2006. “But now that widely-celebrated legislation is a glaring example of how far we have fallen behind our neighbors and our nation. The time to correct this economic and moral failure is now.”
Hughes, who sat with Tartaglione and Gov. Ed Rendell for the 2006 signing at Sharon Baptist Church, said the bill proved the skeptics spectacularly wrong.
“We were told Senate Bill 1090 would cost jobs. We heard dire predictions and gloomy warnings and fake reports from the business lobby,” Hughes said. “None of it was true. Poverty shrunk. Jobs grew. Thousands of Pennsylvanians saw their buying power rise to where it was a decade earlier. You can’t tell us we can’t afford to pay better than poverty level wages. We know better.”
Act 112 raised Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.15 over two years before the federal government raised the current rate to $7.25 where it has remained. A Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry report compiled after the increase showed it was broadly successful at raising wages and predictions of job loss were met with thousands of jobs gained in sectors that employ minimum wage workers.
“The fact that Pennsylvania’s minimum wage hasn’t increased in 15 years is an embarrassment,” said Gov. Wolf. “It’s an insult to hardworking Pennsylvanians who are doing the same amount of work, but finding that their paychecks cover less and less every single year. The Republican majority in the General Assembly refuses to do the right thing for workers in our state. Our minimum wage is leaving Pennsylvanians behind, and that’s just wrong.”
Tartaglione has continued to offer new minimum wage bills that have not been moved by the Senate majority.
“It is an absolute travesty and an insult to workers everywhere that other legislators have been blocking Pennsylvanians from raising the minimum wage for 15 years. 15 years!” said Sen. Tim Kearney, who spoke at the rally urging a full Senate vote on a minimum wage update.
Tartaglione’s current bill, Senate Bill 12, would raise the minimum wage to $15 in a series of increments over six years. It remains idled in the Senate Labor and Industry Committee.
Participants at the rally signed a letter to Senate majority leaders asking for a vote and predicting it would pass if allowed on the floor.
“The minimum wage is nowhere near a livable wage,” said Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, who represents parts of Delaware and Montgomery counties. “In my district, there is no affordable housing available for those making at or near our current minimum. It is past time to do something about it. We must raise it immediately.”
Sen. Katie Muth, who represents parts of Montgomery, Chester and Bucks counties called the current minimum wage “shameful” and said its value would be far higher if adjusted to make up for decreasing buying power.
“I encourage those who oppose increasing Pennsylvania’s minimum wage rate from the shameful poverty rate of $7.25 an hour to try it for themselves with an annual salary of less than $15,000 after taxes,” she said. “In Pennsylvania, it costs roughly $59,340 for a family of four to afford basic needs. Had the minimum wage increased at the rate of productivity since the early 1960’s, it would be around $22.50. Income inequality is preventable and those with the majority power in Harrisburg have been holding hardworking Pennsylvanians hostage with their inaction.”
To view the full event, visit here. FTP link available upon request.
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by Christin Brown | January 27, 2021 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
Download Facts → | Download Full Remarks →
The forthcoming Senate Bill 12 would raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, while the Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would boost the federal rate to the same level
Philadelphia, PA – January 27, 2021 – Pennsylvania’s minimum wage workers haven’t received a substantial pay raise in more than 14 years. Today, State Senator Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) and U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pennsylvania) detailed their efforts to raise the minimum wage for the Commonwealth and for the nation as new legislative sessions commence in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C.
During a virtual meeting with the news media, Senator Tartaglione announced she will soon introduce legislation that would raise Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage to $12 per hour this year and put the Commonwealth on a path to a $15 minimum wage. The bill will be known as Senate Bill 12.
Congressman Boyle discussed the Raise the Wage Act of 2021 which was introduced in the U.S. House yesterday, January 26th. The bill proposes to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and has garnered the support of U.S. House and U.S. Senate leaders. President Biden has called upon Congress to adopt a $15 federal minimum wage as part of his economic recovery plan.
Currently, Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, the same rate as the federal minimum. The Pennsylvania legislature last raised the minimum wage on June 30, 2006, through Senate Bill 1090. Senator Tartaglione was the primary sponsor of that bill, which raised the state’s minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.15.
Three years later, Congress raised the federal minimum wage to $7.25, and Pennsylvania’s rate followed suit.
“It has been 5,317 days since the Pennsylvania Legislature last raised the minimum wage. That is more than 14 years and it is far too long,” Senator Tartaglione said, echoing language she enters into the Senate record every session day. “At the current rate, a full-time minimum wage worker earns just $15,000 a year. That’s certainly not enough for anyone to live on – even a single person with no children or dependents. It is a poverty wage. Raising the minimum wage is not just an economic issue. It’s a moral issue.”
“No American who works full time should be living in poverty,” said Congressman Boyle. “Americans working 40 hours a week should be able to put food on the table and a roof over their families’ heads, but with the minimum wage stuck at $7.25, far too many are working hard and still in poverty. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the $7.25 federal minimum wage was economically and morally indefensible. Now, the pandemic is highlighting the gross imbalance between the productivity of our nation’s workers and the wages they are paid. Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 will be a boost to the economy, a boost to productivity, and a boost to our workforce. Raising wages is good business.”
On a state level, Senate Bill 12 would raise the minimum wage to $12 this year and an additional 50 cents each year until it reaches $15. After then, the rate would be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index. In addition, Senator Tartaglione’s legislation would eliminate the sub-minimum wage for tip-earners (which is currently set at $2.83 per hour) and would repeal preemption, which prevents local governments in the Commonwealth from raising the minimum wage in their jurisdictions. Further, Senate Bill 12 would grant the Department of Labor & Industry more powers to investigate wage law violations and would increase the penalties for employers who violate wage laws.
Senator Tartaglione noted that as recently as 2019, one statewide survey of registered voters found that 69% favor raising the minimum wage to $12. Another survey that year found that 56% of voters support a $15 minimum wage. Twenty-nine states have adopted minimum wages higher than the federal rate, including all six of Pennsylvania’s immediate neighbors. Nine states have adopted a $15 minimum wage.
“The level of support for these raises will only grow as consumer prices climb and it becomes harder for low-wage workers to make ends meet, and it becomes near-impossible for them to get ahead,” Senator Tartaglione said. “If New York, New Jersey, and Maryland can have a $15 minimum wage, and if Florida voters can approve a $15 minimum wage, surely Pennsylvania can do it.”
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact William Kenny at 215-533-0440 or William.Kenny@pasenate.com.
by Christin Brown | January 18, 2021 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
Harrisburg – January 18, 2021 – At the request of State Senators Art Haywood (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia), Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia), and John Kane (D- Chester/Delaware) the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee held a virtual public hearing on raising the minimum wage for Pennsylvanians. The hearing was held on Martin Luther King, Jr’s Day of Service to honor his legacy of fighting for worker’s rights and economic justice.
“It is unacceptable that Pennsylvania continues to allow its minimum wage to be the poverty wage of $7.25 an hour,” Haywood said. “We hold this hearing today on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of service to continue the work that Dr. King started demanding dignity and respect for all workers, and that starts by paying workers a living wage.”
The Pennsylvania General Assembly last raised the minimum wage in July 2007 to $7.25 per hour. The six states bordering Pennsylvania have enacted minimum wage laws exceeding the $7.25 rate effective in the Commonwealth. Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, and Ohio have enacted higher minimum wages than Pennsylvania’s, which has been stagnate at the federal minimum for more than a decade.
Alissa Barron-Menza, Vice President of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said that minimum wage was first introduced in 1938 during the Great Depression, and that a livable minimum wage is an essential economic recovery tool.
“This increase is a vital tool for shared recovery that will be good for business, good for customers and good for the economy,” Barron-Menza said.
Morris Pearl, Chairman of the Patriotic Millionaires, also said that a raise to the minimum wage is good for the economy. He said that a strong economy needs people with money to spend in order to maintain it.
“Investors are overwhelmingly in favor of raising the minimum wage,” Pearl said.
Currently, 29 states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, including all states surrounding Pennsylvania.
“The fact that Pennsylvania’s General Assembly hasn’t raised the minimum wage since passing my legislation in 2006 is reprehensible,” Tartaglione said. “While I have continued to sponsor new minimum wage legislation every session since, the majority has failed to take action, leaving the last increase workers have seen to be a 10-cent federal increase in 2009. Pennsylvania’s minimum wage workers deserve better.”
Sen. Tartaglione is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 12. This legislation would immediately raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $12 an hour for all Pennsylvania workers, with a pathway to $15 an hour by 2027. This bill would also eliminate the tipped minimum wage for Pennsylvania, ensuring all workers are making a living wage that is not dependent on patron generosity or lack thereof.
“I was a union plumber for almost four decades, and I know how important livable, family-sustaining wages were for myself and all of our members,” Kane said. “It’s a big problem that our minimum-wage workers haven’t seen a raise in over a decade — we need to guarantee that all Pennsylvanians are paid a livable wage.”
Gene Barr is President & CEO of the PA Chamber of Business and Industry said that his organization does not believe that a raise to the Pennsylvania minimum wage is the most, “effective way to drive assistance.”
Barr said that a raise to the minimum wage will hurt small businesses, will lead to more automation, and that continued work with the state on reducing barriers to employment and expanding an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are better solutions.
“There is majority business support for raising the minimum wage beyond currently enacted levels – despite what you may hear from the opposition,” Barron-Menza countered to Barr. “For example, a 2016 survey of 1,000 business executives across the country conducted by LuntzGlobal for the Council of State Chambers found that 80 percent of respondents said they supported raising their state’s minimum wage, while only eight percent opposed.”
“No one should be working a full-time job, or multiple full-time and part time jobs, and still be living in poverty because their employer is not required to pay them a livable wage,” Sen. Katie Muth (D- Berks/Chester/Montgomery), chair of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, said. “All workers deserve the dignity and respect of a livable wage, and we must raise the minimum wage for Pennsylvania.”
William Spriggs, Professor of Economics at Howard University and Chief Economist at AFL-CIO stated in his testimony that raising the minimum wage is also essential in ending the gender and racial wage gaps widely acknowledged to exist by economists.
Spriggs also said that subminimum wage is paying people less in the service industry ($2.83 in Pennsylvania for restaurant workers) or is biased on where they live, and also has, “very racist roots.”
Ashona Denise Osborne joined the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) fight for $15 an hour minimum wage after working minimum wage jobs her whole life, raising her son as a single mother, and realizing that even getting her Associates Degree in childcare is, “still not enough.”
Many other Senators also attended this hearing including Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D- Allegheny), Amanda Cappelletti (D- Delaware/Montgomery), Carolyn Committa (D- Chester), Maria Collett (D- Bucks/ Montgomery), Wayne Fontana (D- Allegheny), Vincent Hughes (D- Montgomery/Philadelphia), Tim Kearney (D- Chester/Delaware), Steve Santarsiero (D- Bucks), Nikil Saval (D- Philadelphia), Judy Schwank (D- Berks), Sharif Street (D- Philadelphia), Anthony H. Williams (D- Delaware/Philadelphia), and Lindsey Williams (D- Allegheny).
Below are all who testified in today’s hearing:
- Gene Barr, President & CEO of the PA Chamber of Business and Industry
- Alissa Barron-Menza, Vice President of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage
- Morris Pearl, Chair of Patriotic Millionaires
- Manuel Rosaldo, Centre County Wage Justice Coalition, Assistant Professor of Labor Relations, Penn State University
- Jacqui Rogers, Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition
- William Spriggs, Professor of Economics, Howard University and Chief Economist, AFL-CIO
- Kadida Kenner, Director of Campaigns at the PA Budget and Policy Center
- Ashona Denise Osborne, SEIU Worker from Pittsburgh
- Lateefah Curtis, Worker from Philadelphia
- Adesola Ogunleye, Worker from Philadelphia
The full recording of this hearing can be found at senatormuth.com/policy.
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by Christin Brown | March 17, 2020 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by dmckee | February 3, 2020 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by dmckee | January 29, 2020 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by dmckee | January 28, 2020 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by dmckee | January 28, 2020 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by dmckee | January 28, 2020 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by Christin Brown | January 27, 2020 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by Christin Brown | December 18, 2019 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
Philadelphia, PA, December 18, 2019 – Democratic legislators from both chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly evoked The Grinch and Scrooge to denounce the inaction by House Republican leadership on Senate Bill 79, legislation that would raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by January 2022.
State Senators Christine M. Tartaglione and Art Haywood, and State Reps. Patty Kim and Christopher M. Rabb hosted the news conference with the support of their Democratic caucus colleagues and Secretary of Labor & Industry W. Gerard Oleksiak. All four lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at modernizing Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Act to reflect the rising costs of living and raising families in the Commonwealth.
Senator Tartaglione, the primary sponsor of SB 79, read a passage from the Dr. Seuss classic, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” while comparing House Speaker Mike Turzai to the poem’s infamous title character.
“There are literally millions of ‘Whos’ living in every city, every small town, and every ‘Whoville’ across this great Commonwealth,” Senator Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) said. “Unlike the loveable creatures in the Dr. Seuss classic, their plight is nothing to delight us every holiday season.”
“Raising the minimum wage has been a priority this year, and we have failed hardworking Pennsylvanians to pass this bill into law,” Senator Haywood (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia) said. “I stand here with my colleagues to continue to offer support for raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania and pull hardworking families out of poverty.”
Representative Rabb (D-Philadelphia) extended the holiday theme by quoting Charles Dickens’ novel, “A Christmas Carol,” equating Speaker Turzai to Ebenezer Scrooge, and warning that the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come may soon be paying him a visit.
“These working people aren’t asking for charity,” Representative Rabb said. “These people are working – working hard – for 40, 50 hours a week or more. These people are serving your Christmas dinners, cleaning the hotels your visiting relatives are staying at, and making sure you’ve got a place to get gas and batteries and milk when everything else is closed. They’re asking for the fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work they’ve earned and they’re owed.”
“The modest raise in Senate Bill 79 would make a major difference for so many families, especially families and households led by women,” Representative Kim (D-Dauphin) said. “I’m sad, I’m disappointed, but I’m also ready to fight until these people get the raise they’ve earned.”
Pennsylvania’s base minimum wage stands at the national minimum of $7.25 an hour and has not increased since 2009, when the federal rate took effect. Pennsylvania last enacted an increase to its minimum wage on July 9, 2006. That’s 4,910 days ago.
With strong bipartisan support, the Senate overwhelmingly adopted SB 79 on November 20. The legislation then moved to the House for consideration and was referred to its Labor & Industry Committee. House leaders have not advanced the bill or scheduled it for consideration by the committee.
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by Ted Gans | December 18, 2019 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by Christin Brown | November 20, 2019 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
Harrisburg – November 20, 2019 – Today, State Senator Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia), joined State Senator Art Haywood (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia), State Representative Patty Kim (D-103), State Representative Chris Rabb (D-200), and advocacy organization State Innovation Exchange (SiX) for a news conference. This media event was in response to the Senate passage of legislation to increase the minimum wage rate to $9.50 by January 2022.
“Any increase in the minimum wage is a step in the right direction, but the bill adopted by the Senate today falls far short of what Pennsylvania workers need and deserve. This is not the bill that I have been fighting for. It’s not the bill that my colleagues in the Senate and House have been fighting for,” said Senator Tartaglione. “And it’s not the bill that workers have been fighting for. Pennsylvania workers deserve more. We must keep fighting for more and we will not stop until we get it.”
“Today, I voted yes to increase the minimum wage rate to $9.50 over a period of 24 months. There is still no change in the tipped wage for restaurant workers, no annual cost of living adjustment with inflation, and it keeps the ban on cities from increasing their own minimum wage,” said Senator Haywood. “The change from $7.25 to $9.50 gives minimum wage workers a $4,680 raise. I will continue efforts in my district to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour business by business and block by block until there is a fair wage.”
“After nearly a decade of Pennsylvania lagging behind neighboring states, Republicans are finally acknowledging that our current minimum wage is nothing short of a poverty wage. Yet, their response to H.B. 1215 and S.B. 79 is an inadequate counter-proposal to the substance of one fair wage. It is akin to keeping the economic knife in the side of the working poor, yet seeking praise for pulling it out an inch,” said state Rep. Chris Rabb. “More than 40% of the Pennsylvania workforce is working minimum wage jobs. We must ensure workers can adequately provide for their families by fighting for a living wage while breaking the scourge of poverty.”
“According to a poll commissioned by the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) and conducted by TargetSmart, Pennsylvania voters support a wide range of policies in the state to raise wages, strengthen our democracy, reform the criminal justice system, and protect the environment,” said Pennsylvania Director for State Innovation Exchange (SiX), Nikkilia Lu. “62% of voters support raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour over the next five years.”
This legislation is currently awaiting a vote by the Pennsylvania House.
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by Kyrie George | November 20, 2019 | Minimum Wage, Videos
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by Kyrie George | November 20, 2019 | Minimum Wage, News Releases, Videos
by dmckee | November 20, 2019 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by Christin Brown | November 20, 2019 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
Senate Bill 79 proposes to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $9.50/hour by 2022.
Philadelphia, PA, November 20, 2019 – As the Pennsylvania Senate adopted her legislation to raise the state’s minimum wage for the first time in 13 years, State Senator Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) today urged her colleagues to continue working toward a higher rate that will enable workers to support themselves and their families.
Senate Bill 79 proposes to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9.50 in four increments concluding on January 1, 2022. The raises would directly benefit approximately 385,000 low-wage workers. The legislation now moves to the Pennsylvania House for consideration.
“The General Assembly hasn’t raised Pennsylvania’s minimum wage in over 13 years, so any increase is a step in the right direction,” Senator Tartaglione said. “While this is not the bill that I have been fighting for, or the bill that Pennsylvania’s low-wage workers have been fighting for, it is important that we do everything we can right now to help people put food on their tables, put a roof over their heads, and educate their children.”
In March, Senator Tartaglione introduced Senate Bill 12 that proposes to raise the minimum wage to $12 this year and to $15 by 2025. SB 12 is awaiting action in the Senate Labor & Industry Committee.
The General Assembly last voted to raise the minimum wage in 2006, when legislation introduced by Senator Tartaglione raised the rate $5.15 to $7.15. The wage floor rose to $7.25 in 2009 in accordance with federal law.
Since then all six of Pennsylvania’s bordering states and 29 states across the nation have adopted wage floors that exceed the federal minimum.
“By adopting SB 79, we have made a statement that we are capable of working together to advance legislation that provides Pennsylvania’s low-wage workers with much-needed and long-awaited relief,” Senator Tartaglione said. “I encourage our counterparts in the House to support this bill and I look forward to working on additional legislation that will continue the progress we have made here today.”
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact William Kenny at 215-533-0440 or William.Kenny@pasenate.com.
by Ted Gans | November 20, 2019 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by dmckee | November 19, 2019 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by Christin Brown | November 19, 2019 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
As a $9.50/hour minimum wage plan advanced in the Senate, the amended bill also included a moratorium on changes to PA’s outdated overtime pay rules.
Philadelphia, PA, November 19, 2019 – State Senator Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) voted yesterday in favor of raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9.50 while renewing her call for a much larger increase in the statewide minimum.
During a meeting of the Senate Labor & Industry Committee, members voted unanimously to report a largely amended version of Tartaglione’s SB 79 to the full Senate for consideration. Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee also approved the bill with two no votes from the 24-member panel. The full Senate may vote on the bill as soon as tomorrow.
The legislation proposes to raise the minimum wage to $8.00 next July 1, and by 50 cents every six months until the rate reaches $9.50 on January 1, 2022. Also, under a Republican-driven amendment, the bill would prevent the Department of Labor & Industry from updating the state’s overtime pay rules until January 1, 2023. Under the current rules, employers can refuse to pay overtime wages to any employee making more than $23,660 a year in regular wages.
“With one in eight Pennsylvanians living in poverty, and one in four living in near-poverty – despite our historically low unemployment rate – I simply cannot walk away from legislation that could provide our working poor with at least some relief … even the bare minimum level of relief,” Senator Tartaglione said.
In a separate bill, SB 12, Senator Tartaglione has proposed to raise the minimum wage to $12 this year and to $15 by 2025. Introduced in March, that legislation awaits action in the Labor & Industry Committee.
“I would like nothing better than to vote in favor of legislation that provides a fair raise to Pennsylvania’s minimum wage workers,” Senator Tartaglione said. “I would like nothing better than to give them the raise that they have been waiting 13 years for, a raise that they desperately need and deserve.”
“Likewise, I’d like to see the Commonwealth adopt overtime regulations that guarantee all Pennsylvanians an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. Sadly, the drastically-amended bill that was voted on in the Labor Committee has fallen far short of these worthy objectives.”
In June 2018, the Department of Labor & Industry proposed new overtime rules that would raise the overtime pay threshold. After a lengthy public comment period, a modified rulemaking proposal now sits before a state regulatory panel. Under the plan, workers who make less than $45,500 a year in regular wages would be entitled to overtime pay.
Yet in a party-line vote, Labor Committee Republicans amended SB 79 to block the rules changes until 2023. Under new federal regulations, the threshold will increase to $35,568 as of January 1, 2020. But that will exclude more than 80,000 Pennsylvania workers who would gain overtime pay protection under the state’s proposed rules.
Meanwhile, about 385,000 low-wage workers in Pennsylvania stand to benefit directly from a $9.50 minimum wage. That figure pales in comparison to the more than 1 million who would benefit from a $12 minimum or the 2 million who would benefit from a $15 minimum.
Currently, Pennsylvania has a lower minimum wage than all six of its bordering states and is among just 21 mostly Southern and rural states where the federal $7.25 rate is still in effect. SB 12 would bring Pennsylvania back in line with Maryland, New Jersey, and New York, which have already adopted laws leading to $15 minimum wages.
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact William Kenny at 215-533-0440 or William.Kenny@pasenate.com.
by Christin Brown | November 18, 2019 | Minimum Wage, Videos
by ersmith | October 30, 2019 | Minimum Wage, Videos
