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 Jessica Marpe | October 21, 2021 | News Releases
Philadelphia, Pa – October 21, 2021– Senator Christine M. Tartaglione, chairwoman of the PA Senate Labor and Industry Committee, today shared praise for Governor Wolf’s pro-worker agenda. The governor signed an executive order this morning calling for legislative action to create safer workplaces, promote higher wages and guarantee paid leave for workers. He encouraged the General Assembly to finally pass legislation that supports workers.
In response to the action and strong stance the governor is taking for workers, Senator Tartaglione issued the following statement:
“Today’s announcement from the Wolf Administration is a crucial first step in expanding worker protections and ensuring businesses that receive grants or contracts from the commonwealth provide family sustaining wages to all employees.
“Creating and maintaining family sustaining wages and expanding OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) protections have been the cornerstone of my legislative priorities. Governor Wolf’s actions today provide a great place to continue conversations regarding legislation, including SB12, a bill I introduced to raise the minimum wage for all workers across the commonwealth and SB310 which would expand OSHA protections to public sector employees.”
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 | February 3, 2021 | News Releases
During his Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Budget Address, Governor Wolf discussed minimum wage, small business funding, job creation, and workforce development
Philadelphia, PA – February 3, 2021 – State Senator Christine Tartaglione released the following statement in response to the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Budget Address delivered today by Governor Tom Wolf during a joint session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly:
“I have long fought within the General Assembly for policies that improve the lives of Pennsylvania’s workers, their families, and their communities. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, these priorities are more important now than they have ever been. I applaud Governor Wolf for incorporating my agenda into the administration’s proposals, and for sharing my vision of a Commonwealth defined by equality and opportunity for all.
“With approximately 5 million Pennsylvanians having filed for unemployment benefits since March, we must focus on putting people back to work. I fully support the new round of small business assistance requested by the governor as well as his recommendation that Pennsylvania reinvest federal pandemic funding into remediating toxic materials in our schools. Projects like those will keep our school children safe and create good-paying jobs.
“The governor and I agree it is vital that Pennsylvania raise its minimum wage. The current rate, $7.25 an hour, amounts to a poverty wage. Raising the rate to $12 this year and $15 over the next six years will allow low-wage earners to work their way out of poverty while improving morale and productivity, and reducing their reliance on public assistance. As a result, my minimum wage legislation, SB 12, will also benefit employers, taxpayers, and our consumer economy. Importantly, it will help advance income equality for women and minorities.
“Our budget must serve the Commonwealth’s urgent job creation needs, but we must also look ahead and consider how we will help prepare Pennsylvanians for employment opportunities of the future. The governor’s proposed investment in a reformed workforce development system will enable Pennsylvanians to acquire marketable job skills and will help rebuild the middle class. And it will also help to remove the barriers to employment faced by many folks, such as transportation and childcare needs.
“Overall, I am very encouraged that Governor Wolf has prioritized sorely needed pandemic relief and recovery initiatives while reiterating his long-standing advocacy for the pro-worker and pro-family agenda that we share. I look forward to working with the administration and my legislative colleagues during the upcoming budget process to achieve these objectives.”
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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 27, 2021 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
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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 | February 4, 2020 | News Releases
During his annual budget address today, Governor Wolf said PA should invest in fixing toxic schools, raise its minimum wage, and require the reporting of lost or stolen guns. He is also calling for a lower corporate tax rate while closing the ‘Delaware Loophole.’
Philadelphia, PA, February 4, 2020 – State Senator Christine M. Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) issued the following statement regarding the fiscal year 2020-2021 budget address delivered by Governor Tom Wolf today to a joint session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Among the governor’s many policies to advance the Commonwealth on a “path to prosperity,” he proposed investing more than $1 billion toward identifying and removing contaminants such as asbestos and lead from schools; raising the minimum wage to $15; reducing the corporate tax rate while closing the “Delaware Loophole”; and requiring gun owners to report to authorities any lost or stolen firearms:
“I applaud Governor Wolf for embracing and taking action on many of the initiatives I have championed in the Senate for many years and those that I continue to advocate. Toxic schools are a statewide crisis that need immediate response from all stakeholders. We need local, state, and federal investment as well as a coordinated effort to protect the health of students, teachers, staff, and all people who visit our schools. I strongly support funding for toxic schools in pending capital budget legislation.”
“Minimum wage is another issue that affects all Pennsylvanians. Raising our minimum wage to a true living wage, as I have proposed in Senate Bill 12, would help us to reduce poverty throughout the Commonwealth and would help low-wage workers afford necessities like food, shelter, transportation, healthcare, and childcare. It would also help businesses by putting more spending money in consumers’ pockets and increase Pennsylvania’s tax revenues.”
“I also agree with the governor that closing the Delaware Loophole and lowering our Corporate Net Income Tax will benefit all Pennsylvanians. My legislation, Senate Bill 1032, would achieve this. Thousands of companies that do business in Pennsylvania and make money here aren’t paying their fair share of taxes. That’s unfair to all taxpayers. By requiring companies to reveal what they really make and pay what they really owe, we will be able to reduce our corporate tax rate, which is among the highest in the nation, and make the Commonwealth more attractive for businesses.”
“Public safety and gun violence is another fundamental issue that we must address. I’m glad that Governor Wolf is calling for common-sense gun laws, like those I have proposed in Senate Bill 483. We must reduce the number of illegal guns on our streets, and we can do that by stopping the people who deal in illegal guns, including straw purchasers. Mandatory reporting will help to protect all Pennsylvanians from gun violence, including law-abiding, responsible gun owners.”
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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 | 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 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 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 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 | May 20, 2019 | News Releases
Pennsylvania − May 20, 2019 − Advocates, lawmakers and state officials will participate in tours and a statewide day of action on Thursday, May 23rd with businesses that choose to pay their employees a living wage.
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage remains at a regional low of $7.25 per hour, the minimum still set by the federal government. The state is beyond due for an increase in this poverty-level wage.
According to a recent report from the Keystone Research Center, an increase in the state’s minimum wage to $12/hour on July 1, 2019 (as proposed by Governor Tom Wolf and members of the General Assembly as part of this year’s budget negotiations) would impact a total of 1.7 million Pennsylvania workers. More than 1.13 million would see a direct increase; 540,000 people who make slightly more than $12/hour would see their wages increase as payscales are adjusted upwards.
Despite a decade without a mandated increase from the state or federal government, business owners throughout Pennsylvania understand that a $7.25 wage is unacceptable and have taken it upon themselves to ensure that their workers are able to support themselves through full-time work. Those businesses are thriving.
Members of the press are invited to attend these tours and ask questions of the legislators and business owners. Tour stops include:
Harrisburg
2:00pm at Elementary Coffee
Broad Street Market, 1233 N 3rd St, Harrisburg, PA 17102
Pittsburgh
3:30pm at Bar Marco
2216 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Philadelphia
1:30pm at La Barberia
Suburban Station Concourse, 17th St. & JFK Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Delaware County
5:00pm at Five Points Coffee Shop
47 Long Ln, Upper Darby, PA 19082
Chester County
3:00pm at Mabel’s BBQ
607 East Market St. West Chester, PA
Bucks County
1pm at Exact Solar
82 Walker Lane, Newtown PA 18940
Lancaster
11am at El Pueblito Mexican Restaurant
1027 Dillerville Rd., Dillerville Square, Lancaster
Follow along with the day of action on Twitter with #RealJobsRealPay
For more information on the urgent need to raise the minimum wage, visit realjobsrealpay.com
by Christin Brown | March 22, 2019 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
Crafted in partnership with Governor Wolf, Senate Bill 12 would raise the minimum wage to $12 this year and $15 by 2025, followed by annual cost of living increases.
HARRISBURG, PA, March 22, 2019 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) today introduced Senate Bill 12 that would raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $12 per hour this year, and $15 by 2025, after which the rate would be adjusted automatically each year based on a cost of living index. The measure would directly impact about 1 million Pennsylvania workers in 2019.
Senator Tartaglione crafted the bill in partnership with Governor Tom Wolf. The legislation has been referred to the Senate’s Labor & Industry Committee, of which Senator Tartaglione serves as minority chairwoman.
“It’s been 13 years since Pennsylvania last raised its minimum wage and this raise is long overdue,” Senator Tartaglione said. “All six of our neighboring states have raised their minimum wages above the federal minimum, as have 29 states across the nation. Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has stagnated as the cost of living and worker productivity have soared throughout the Commonwealth and the around the country, and while income inequality has reached an all-time high.”
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage stands at $7.25 per hour, which is also the federal minimum. S.B. 12 calls for employers to pay workers at least $12 per hour starting on July 1, 2019. The minimum wage will increase by 50 cents each ensuing July 1 until reaching $15 in 2025. Starting on July 1, 2026, and each succeeding July 1 thereafter, the minimum wage would increase in proportion with the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland area.
In addition, the legislation would eliminate the sub-minimum wage for tip earners, workers with disabilities, apprentices, and students. It would eliminate the preemption on municipal wage ordinances, expand the powers of the Department of Labor & Industry to recover wages and penalties for violations of the Minimum Wage Act, increase monetary penalties for violations, and bring enforcement in line with the nation’s Fair Labor Standards Act.
Due to inflation, the minimum wage has lost 29 percent of its earning power over the last 50 years. At $7.25 per hour, a full-time, year-round worker would earn just $15,080 per year, which is below the federal poverty level for a two-person household, such as the single parent of an only child. Data show that most of Pennsylvania’s low-wage workers are women and age 20 or older. Low-wage workers contribute more than half of the average family income in Pennsylvania.
“Vital members of our community, such as child care and home health workers, bank tellers, construction workers, retail and hospitality workers who work full-time while making the minimum wage only earn about $15,000 a year,” Senator Tartaglione said. “They cannot afford basic necessities such as rent, transportation, food, and prescriptions. Many are forced to rely on public assistance to get by. The inability for hard-working people to care for their basic needs, or those of their families, is morally wrong and is economically unsound.”
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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 | February 8, 2019 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, numerous elected officials, labor leaders, and commuters gathered at Frankford Terminal to join the call for a living wage
PHILADELPHIA, PA, February 8, 2019 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf led a coalition of elected officials, labor leaders, worker advocates, and commuters at the bustling Frankford Transportation Center today to rally support for a long overdue raise in Pennsylvania’s minimum wage.
It’s been 13 years since the legislature last raised the state’s minimum wage, and a decade since the federal government’s last minimum wage increase. Pennsylvania workers have been subject to a $7.25 minimum wage since then. At that rate, a 40-hour-per-week worker would earn just $15,080 per year. That’s barely above the federal poverty level for an individual, and about $1,400 below the poverty level for a two-person household.
“Let’s be clear about the people who we’re going to help by raising the minimum wage,” Sen. Tartaglione said. “It’s not just the teenagers who work at fast food restaurants, convenience stores, and other part-time, entry level jobs. The overwhelming majority of those who would see their paychecks get bigger – 90 percent in fact – are in their 20s or older. And half of them are full-time workers. On average, these folks earn more than half of their family’s total income.”
Numerous elected officials joined Tartaglione and the governor for the high-energy rally, including Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Tartaglione’s Senate colleagues Vincent Hughes, Art Haywood, and Tim Kearney. Wolf and Tartaglione each detailed the minimum wage proposal that the senator will soon introduce as Senate Bill 12.
“Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have raised their minimum wages above the federal minimum. New raises took effect in 18 states just last month,” Sen. Tartaglione said.
The legislation would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 this year, followed by annual increases of 50 cents until it reaches $15 in 2025. After then, the minimum wage would be adjusted annually, automatically, based on the cost of living. The legislation would also create safeguards to protect workers from employers who willfully underpay.
“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it today, and I’ll keep saying it – it’s past time that we raise the wage in Pennsylvania,” Gov. Wolf said. “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. We must raise the wage.”
Raising the minimum wage to $12 this year would directly benefit more than one million workers, most of whom make more than the current minimum wage, but less than $12.
“This raise would put more money into their pockets, helping them to pay their bills,” Sen. Tartaglione said. “And it would inject billions of consumer dollars into our economy.”
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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 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 | February 10, 2016 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
HARRISBURG, Feb. 10, 2016 – As state budget negotiators struggle to find new sources of revenue, Sen. Christine Tartaglione told a Capitol rally today that a $10.10 minimum wage would generate millions in new state income and save the commonwealth millions more.
“Paying people a fair wage of not less than $10.10 per hour reaps huge benefits for this commonwealth and all of the families who live here,” Tartaglione, the state’s leading minimum wage advocate in the General Assembly, said. “It’s a very common-sense approach to a very large and expanding problem we face here in Harrisburg.
“There would be a $121.5 million increase in state income and sales taxes and a shift of $104 million in Medicaid payments from the state to the federal government
“These changes would go a long way in a budget environment like ours.”
The Philadelphia Democrat proposed Senate Bill 195 this session to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. Her Senate Bill 196 would raise the tipped minimum wage to 70 percent of the regular rate.
“It’s long past time that Pennsylvania raises its minimum wage to compete with all of our surrounding states,” Sen. Tartaglione said during the Raise The Wage PA-organized rally. “The time is now to enact this common sense legislation.”
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by Christin Brown | February 9, 2016 | Minimum Wage, News Releases
HARRISBURG, Feb. 9, 2016 – Despite the financial challenges facing Pennsylvania due to Republican intransigence, the commonwealth’s leading advocate for a fairer minimum wage said she is pleased that Gov. Tom Wolf is calling for a $10.15 base hourly rate.
“The tunnel vision that has led Pennsylvania to a fiscal cliff has also prevented our frontline workers from receiving a pay raise for the past seven years,” Sen. Christine Tartaglione said following the governor’s annual budget address today.
“But $10.15 an hour is the best indication that our fight for a fair minimum wage will continue in earnest.”
Sen. Tartaglione led the charge to get Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $7.15 an hour in 2006. The state’s base hourly pay rate ticked up to its current level, $7.25 an hour, when the federal government approved that wage in 2009.
The Philadelphia Democrat’s current legislation, Senate Bill 195, move Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. Her Senate Bill 196 would hike the tipped minimum wage to 70 percent of the regular rate (or $3.95 an hour, based on a $10.10 minimum wage).
“More than a million workers will get a pay raise, countless employers will have more focused employees, and government subsidies will fall when the Republican leadership gets out of the way and finally allows a vote on proposals to increase the minimum wage,” Tartaglione said. “These increases are overdue. We must make this a priority.”
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Follow Sen. Christine Tartaglione on Facebook, Twitter and via her website.
Contact: Mark Shade
mshade@pasenate.com
by Christin Brown | October 21, 2015 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, Oct. 21, 2015 – Following up on her promise to force a vote on her bill to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today submitted her discharge petition on Senate Bill 195.
Tartaglione said she planned to introduce the petition during a Sept. 30 press conference. However, she delayed that course of action after Republican lawmakers said they would work with her on the bill.
“But there has been no alternative solution, and there has been little movement since then,” Tartaglione said today. “So, today, I told the full Senate I am formally submitting my discharge petition on my Senate Bill 195 to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $10.10.”
The discharge petition gives the Senate 10 legislative days to consider Sen. Tartaglione’s request. SB 195 has been in the Senate Labor & Industry Committee since Jan. 28.
“We must, as a body, act on this proposal now. We must, for the wellbeing of Pennsylvania businesses and workers and taxpayers, act on this proposal now. We’ve waited too long,” Tartaglione said. “Pennsylvania is becoming third world while our neighbors and many other states move to raise hourly compensation to more appropriate levels.”
Of the Northeast U.S. states with a minimum wage, Pennsylvania’s base hourly rate of $7.25 is the lowest paid to hourly workers.
Maryland’s minimum wage is $8.25 and is set to increase in stages to $10.10 by July 2018. New Jersey’s minimum wage is $8.38 but it is now indexed to the Consumer Price Index. New York’s base hourly rate is $8.75 and is going to $9 at the end of this year, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo is fighting for a $15 minimum. Ohio is paying $8.10 an hour and will pay more when the CPI is adjusted. West Virginia’s $8 minimum wage is set to hit $8.75 after Christmas. Finally, Delaware is paying $8.25.
“Do not let calamity-howling executives who make $10,000 a day tell you that a wage of $404 a week is going to hurt their bottom lines. It’s time to help Pennsylvania workers get a raise,” the senator said as she formally submitted her discharge petition.
Twenty-nine states and Washington D.C. pay more than the Pennsylvania/federal minimum of $7.25.
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by Christin Brown | September 30, 2015 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, Sept. 30, 2015 – Pennsylvania’s leading fighter for increasing the minimum wage today said she will introduce a discharge petition to force the state Senate to vote on her bill to finally increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.
[hdvideo id=43]
Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said her Senate Bill 195 has been in committee long enough and it’s clear that it will not be considered, despite overwhelming support for the increase.
“Two-hundred-and-forty-five days ago – my proposal to finally give a raise to the lowest paid of Pennsylvania’s workers – minimum wage earners – was referred to the Senate Labor and Industry Committee,” Tartaglione said during a news conference today with fellow Democratic senators, Rep. Gene DiGirolamo (R-Bucks), and staunch minimum wage advocates from the Sierra Club and Raise The Wage PA.
“I am introducing a discharge resolution today to get the Senate to vote on what has long been an unfair situation – and is becoming dire for those who are only earning $7.25 an hour.
“Every day there is a story about a city or state that has either voted to approve raising the minimum wage or is strongly considering an increase.
“Minimum wage efforts have become so successful that – in many cities – $10.10 is now cheap,” Tartaglione said. “But $10.10 is the number that Pennsylvania lawmakers need to approve.”
Of the Northeast U.S. states with a minimum wage, Pennsylvania’s minimum wage of $7.25 is the lowest paid to hourly workers.
Maryland’s minimum wage is $8.25 and is set to increase in stages to $10.10 by July 2018. New Jersey’s minimum wage is $8.38 but it is now indexed to the Consumer Price Index. New York’s base hourly rate is $8.75 and is going to $9 at the end of this year, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo is fighting for a $15 minimum. Ohio is paying $8.10 an hour and will pay more when the CPI is adjusted. West Virginia’s $8 minimum wage is set to hit $8.75 after Christmas. Finally, Delaware is paying $8.25.
In total, 29 states and Washington D.C. pay more than the Pennsylvania/federal minimum of $7.25.
Tartaglione noted opposition to raising the minimum wage, but said their claims are as trite and historically inaccurate as they have always been.
“What the naysayers contend about higher minimum wage rates are the same things that were said when FDR proposed the first minimum wage of 25-cents: ‘Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day … tell you … that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry’,” Tartaglione said.
“It’s time to help Pennsylvania workers get a raise. It’s time that the Senate vote now on my proposal to increase the minimum wage to $10.10, so they are getting my discharge resolution to get this done,” she said.
Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee Chairman Vincent Hughes, Sens. Art Haywood, John Sabatina, Larry Farnese, Sean Wiley, Rep. DiGirolamo, and United Food & Commercial Workers 1776’s John Meyerson joined Sen. Tartaglione at today’s press conference.
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by Christin Brown | September 29, 2015 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, Sept. 29, 2015 – The General Assembly’s leading minimum wage advocate will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 30, in the Capitol Rotunda to explain how she plans to get Republicans to finally consider increasing the base hourly rate to $10.10.
Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione has proposed measures to move Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $10.10 but her bill has received no consideration since it was referred to the Senate Labor and Industry Committee.
Of the Northeast U.S. states with a minimum wage, Pennsylvania’s $7.25 is the lowest paid to hourly workers.
The senator will be joined by minimum wage advocates and other members of her Democratic caucus.
Media coverage is encouraged.
WHAT: Sen. Christine Tartaglione, colleagues, advocates to hold a press conference to outline her next step to gain consideration of her proposal to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage
WHEN: 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 30
WHERE: Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg
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by Christin Brown | July 9, 2015 | News Releases
PHILADELPHIA, July 9, 2015 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today issued the following statement as she remembered the life and work of former state Sen. Len Bodack, who died today at the age of 82:
“We represented people from opposite ends of Pennsylvania but we shared a passion for working on the issues that mattered – and still matter – for the people who elected us as their representatives in the Senate.
“Whether it was minimum wage, worker rights, or acting to improve the quality of life in our communities, Len showed me and others that if it needed to be done it should be done, and it should be done well.
“I am saddened to hear of his passing, but I will always remember our time together.
“My heartfelt condolences to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.”
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by Christin Brown | June 30, 2015 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, June 30, 2015 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today voted against the Republican state budget proposal for 2015-2016, saying it falls far short of the needed investments in education, workers and taxpayers.
“Many people believed we were heading in a new and better direction when the voters elected Tom Wolf to replace Tom Corbett,” Tartaglione said, “but the nightmare Corbett budget strategies continue.
“Voters overwhelmingly said they want someone who better understands the need to invest in our children and their education, to increase the minimum wage for people working in poverty, and to finally adopt an impactful property tax reform bill.
“Instead, we received a steamrolled Republican budget that looks too much like the past Corbett budgets, and all of Pennsylvania should shiver thinking about how this will continue to hold us back,” the senator said.
“I’ve heard Republican lawmakers say they, too, were granted a mandate because they increased their majorities in the House and Senate during the November election, but let me remind them that they merely enjoyed the fruits of their partisan redistricting efforts.
“This sham budget is not what Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians want or need,” Tartaglione said.
The Philly Democrat said the budget proposal heading to Gov. Wolf should include a significant natural gas extraction tax, a minimum wage increase to $10.10 an hour, liquor modernization (not a sell-off), less dependence on one-time budget tricks, and the restoration of the basic education funds that were siphoned away from school teachers and students for the past four years.
“Gov. Wolf has promised a veto, and I am waiting to see that happen,” Tartaglione said. “Once it does happen, House and Senate Democrats – who were blocked from contributing to this budget bill – will make sure a better job is done to be more equitable to Philadelphians and everyone in the commonwealth.”
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by Christin Brown | May 5, 2015 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, May 5, 2015 – With mounting public pressure and a governor who has called for Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to be increased to $10.10 an hour, a committee co-chaired by Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione listened today as workers, employers and opponents discussed the issue during an informational hearing.
“Supporters clearly showed reasoned, real-world evidence for the increase,” Tartaglione said following the three-hour session before the Senate Labor and Industry Committee.
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Sen. Tartaglione has introduced a five-bill package that would up Pennsylvania’s base hourly rate from $7.25 to $10.10 in January, add an annual cost-of-living adjustment, and move the tipped minimum wage to 70 percent of the regular minimum.
Other lawmakers – Republican and Democratic – have also proposed increases. Today’s hearing, however, was to consider the plusses and minuses of increasing the minimum wage to something higher than the current poverty-level rate. No specific bills were discussed.
Following the hearing, Tartaglione held a press conference with some of the employers and workers who clearly demonstrated the need for an increase, and also showed how paying employees more helps them and their businesses.
The co-owner of Pittsburgh’s Bar Marco, Robert Fry, said his restaurant’s decision several years ago to offer base $35,000 a year salaries to employees – and do away with the tipped minimum wage – has been an excellent policy.
“There are significant cost offsets that come with better paid staff, including lower turnover, reduced waste and increased efficiency, and better employee performance and loyalty,” Fry said in his testimony. “All of this saves my business money in the short run as well as the long run.”
Another Pittsburgh-area business owner, Simon Arias, said he pays his employees more than double the minimum wage.
“Paying a higher wage has not hurt my business, but has been a sustaining factor in my growth,” Arias, the owner of Arias Agencies, Wexford, testified. “My employees know they can grow along with my business, and over half have been with me for at least 7 years, with the rest at least 2 and a half years.”
Workers, also, spoke with passion as they explained why lawmakers must approve a higher base hourly rate.
While Maria Perez and Chuck Harford are currently making a little more than the federally required minimum wage, they said $10.10 would help them with cover their basic daily needs.
“I am very fortunate that I live with my mother. However, I know and worry that a major repair to my car or an illness could be devastating to me,” said Harford, who works at an independent grocery store in Duncannon, Dauphin County.
“In three years that I’ve been working (at Brightside Academy Child Care Center, Philadelphia) … I only got a $.10/hour raise. I get paid $620 every two weeks. Somehow I manage to pay rent which is $700, plus bills for electric, car note, insurance, gas and cable,” Perez said. “We all have credits from colleges and also have major experience in the work field, but we struggle to take care of our children while we educate yours.”
In all of the testimony, Sen. Tartaglione said there is one thing that stands out that people should remember.
“Raising the minimum wage is as controversial today as it was in 2006 when we last increased the hourly rate,” Tartaglione said. “What’s also the same is the gloom and doom from opponents. However, today, the real employers who are paying higher wages and the employees who need higher wages are showing the way forward for the commonwealth.”
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by Christin Brown | May 4, 2015 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, May 4, 2015 – Following a morning-long Senate committee hearing on her bill to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione, working men and women, and other supporters of a higher base wage will hold a press conference at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 5, in the East Wing Rotunda.
Despite successful countrywide efforts to increase the minimum wage and numerous legislative proposals to raise the commonwealth’s rate, Pennsylvania still requires employers to pay just $7.25 an hour.
Tartaglione’s Senate Bill 195 would increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $10.10 by January and would include an automatic cost-of-living adjustment. Another proposal in her five-bill package would increase the tipped minimum to 70 percent of the regular minimum.
The Senate Labor and Industry Committee will begin its hearing at 9 a.m., tomorrow, in the North Office Building hearing room. Its current agenda is here.
Media coverage of both events is encouraged.
WHAT: Sen. Christine Tartaglione, minimum wage earners and other supporters to hold a press conference urging lawmakers to approve minimum wage increase
WHEN: 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 5
WHERE: East Wing Rotunda, Capitol, Harrisburg
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