Standing before a joint session of the state House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf called Pennsylvania’s failure to push the minimum wage higher than $7.25 per hour “embarrassing” before suggesting some points the state’s 253 lawmakers should consider.
“Our failure to increase the minimum wage is costing us dearly,” the governor said during his annual budget address to the state Legislature.
“It’s very simple. When people are able to earn a decent wage, they can contribute to the economic life of their communities and the commonwealth. On the other hand, when they work full time, but still don’t earn enough to pay for bare necessities like food, shelter, clothing and heat, taxpayers wind up footing the bill.”
Republicans have argued previously, and following Tuesday’s budget address, that the market is handling the minimum wage. Locally, high-profile employers like Evangelical Community Hospital, Geisinger and Weis Markets have significantly higher starting wages than the state law.
The governor’s 2022-23 fiscal year budget, a $43.7 billion spending plan that he introduced on Tuesday, includes an increase in the state’s minimum wage to $12 by July 1, then to $15 by 2028, accomplished with annual 50-cent per hour increases. It will be up to lawmakers in the state House and Senate to accept or reject the governor’s proposals.
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