Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

In January 2021, 19 states raised their minimum wage with the start of the new year.  Yet it has been more than a decade since Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has seen an increase. The Commonwealth’s rate of $7.25 an hour is the lowest amount allowable under federal law.   

 

If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since 1968, it would be close to $12 an hour today, which is 65 percent higher than Pennsylvania’s current rate.  For this reason I will be introducing legislation that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 an hour starting July 2021.  Beginning July 1, 2022, the minimum wage would see a two percent increase for the following six years.  At that point the yearly increase would then drop to one percent annually.   

 

It is time that the commonwealth shows a true commitment to our minimum wage workforce with fair earnings.  I hope you will join me by co sponsoring this bill.