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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 21, 2023 12:20 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Daniel Laughlin |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Increasing Minimum Wage |
| In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation which will increase the minimum wage in Pennsylvania to $15.00 per hour by 2026 and permanently index it to inflation thereafter. It will also include language to set the tipped wage in Pennsylvania to 40% of the minimum wage as previously established in Pennsylvania Code Title 34, Chapter 231.34. Since 2009, Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour. In 1997, Pennsylvania’s tipped wage was set at $2.83 per hour and has not seen an increase since that time. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, thirty states have a higher minimum wage than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Fifteen states have or will have their minimum wage increase tied to the Consumer Price Index or other similar measures to provide automatic increases with inflation. The federal tipped minimum wage has been $2.13 per hour since 1991. Currently, twenty-eight states have a higher tipped minimum wage rate above Pennsylvania’s current $2.83 per hour. Since 2015, all Pennsylvania’s neighboring states have had minimum wages that exceeded Pennsylvania’s $7.25 per hour. Currently, four of the neighboring states have a higher tipped wage while two were below $2.83 per hour. On average, a worker who earns minimum wage will only earn $15,000 per year. Due to the rising costs, workers are unable to pay for basic necessities and forced to rely on public assistance. This legislation will increase the minimum wage in Pennsylvania to:
Please join me in supporting this important legislation that will bring Pennsylvania’s minimum wage closer to our neighboring states and enable our hard-working citizens the basic necessities that they require to live. |
Introduced as SB743