Topper

The state House on Tuesday approved legislation that would set Pennsylvania on the path to a $15 an hour minimum wage.

House Bill 2189 would set the minimum wage at $11 an hour in 2027; $13 an hour in 2028 and $15 an hour in 2029.

Last year, the state House approved legislation that would have allowed for varying minimum wages in different parts of the state. Rep. Jason Dawkins, D-Philadelphia, the chairman of the Labor and Industry Committee, said that House Democrats have moved multiple minimum wage bills in an attempt to find one that Republicans who hold the majority in the state Senate will be willing to move.

“It is long, long past due that we get serious about the affordability crisis we are experiencing in this country. The rising costs of gasoline, the rising costs of housing, the rising cost of food, the rising cost of day care and everything in between,” Dawkins said. “It is time for us to codify what we know is the right thing to do for Pennsylvania.”

House Republican Leader Jesse Topper, R-Bedford, said that he has his own concerns about the minimum wage and affordability and argued that increasing payroll costs could translate into higher costs for consumers.

“As a government mandated wage is put into place, what will happen to the price of the products that we are buying? I don’t believe they will get cheaper,” he said.

Topper said he also believes that raising the minimum wage will prompt employers to cut jobs that are most often going to young people.

Pennsylvania has not raised its minimum wage since 2009 when the federal minimum wage was increased to $7.25. Since 2009 (the last year in which the minimum wage increased), the purchasing power of the minimum wage has declined by nearly 34%, according to an annual report on the state’s minimum wage completed by the Department of Labor and Industry.

Every neighboring state has already adopted a higher minimum wage.

Minimum wage in bordering states

– New York: $17 NYC metro area, $16 (rest of state)

– New Jersey: $15.92

– Maryland: $15

– Ohio: $11

– Delaware: $15

– West Virginia: $8.75

While welcoming the effort, long-time advocates like Rep. Roni Green, D-Philadelphia, say it’s taken the state so long to act on increasing the minimum wage that workers shouldn’t have to wait years to get to $15.

Green said she does appreciate provisions in the legislation that would have the minimum wage automatically increase at the rate of inflation moving forward and allowing local governments to set their own minimum wages.

“That seems like a good idea for me who represents the City of Philadelphia, so my constituents do not have to not rely on the whims of Senate leaders from rural Pennsylvania for my people to be able to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads,” she said.