Using a up-to-date arrow in their quiver, Senate Democrats have filed a discharge petition that will force Republicans to vote on a bill to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania.
A discharge petition is a way to withdraw a bill from committee and submit it to a vote for consideration without a committee report by “granting” discharge to the committee from further consideration of the bill or resolution.
Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) filed a motion to House Bill 2189 it would raise the commonwealth’s minimum wage to $15 over three years, to $11 next year, $13 in 2028 and $15 by 2029. HB2189 was passed by the House of Representatives in behind schedule March by a 104-95 vote and is among 20 House bills pending before the Senate Labor and Industry Committee.
“It is long past time to raise Pennsylvania’s pathetic minimum wage and provide a meaningful pay raise to thousands of hardworking Pennsylvanians,” Costa said in a statement. “We are an island among contiguous states and our minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a disgrace. It’s time to do the right thing, the smart thing and the popular thing, by raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage. With today’s discharge petition, Senate Democrats stand in solidarity with every worker earning less than $15 an hour to demand a family-sustaining wage for every Pennsylvanian.”
House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D-Montgomery) agreed with Costa.
“It’s a disgrace and it’s not a national disgrace,” Bradford said. “This is a disgrace specific to Pennsylvania. Politics has a moral dimension, and the moral dimension means we must operate on a $15 an hour minimum wage, with no additional delays and no more policy BS.”
“I think if Democrats in the House really wanted to raise the minimum wage, they could do it,” he said Rep. Josh Kail (R-Beaver/Washington) c WHTM-TV. “I would say the Senate Republican House would be willing to negotiate on this. I’ve talked to a lot of them, but they don’t really want to do that. They want to use it as a political stunt to get a majority in the Senate.”
The motion to grant discharge must be put to a vote within 10 days of the session. While it is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled state Senate with a 27-23 majority, it would force GOP members to vote yes or no on the issue during the election cycle in even-numbered districts.
Senator Frank Farry (R-Bucks) is one of the Republicans running for re-election and has said he may support the bill.
“There’s a Sesame Place in my neighborhood,” Farry said. “If we set the minimum wage too high, Sesame Place won’t be able to hire high school and college students to operate the theme park, so we have to balance it all.”
Currently, 34 states, territories and counties have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
Five states have not adopted a state minimum wage: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. In three states, Georgia, Oklahoma and Wyoming, the minimum wage is less than $7.25 an hour. All eight states generally have a federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
In the Mid-Atlantic region, Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. well below neighboring countriesincluding:
New York, $16.00
New Jersey, $15.92
Delaware, $15
Maryland, $15
Ohio, $11.00
West Virginia, $8.75
This is estimated by the Keystone Research Center, a source of independent analysis of Pennsylvania’s economy and public policy Wages for 865,600 Pennsylvania workers will boost if lawmakers raised the minimum wage for all non-tipped hourly workers to $15 an hour. An boost in the minimum wage to $15 an hour would directly affect nearly half a million Pennsylvania workers (460,000) and indirectly affect 405,600 workers.
Governor Josh Shapiro he continued to urge the Senate to pass the bill and put it on his desk.
“Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has remained at $7.25 an hour for over 15 years, which means it continues to lag behind the cost of living and hundreds of thousands of families are struggling to make ends meet,” he said. Shapiro. “You shouldn’t have to work two or three jobs just to set the table and keep a roof over your head. We must raise the minimum wage so that Pennsylvanians have a real chance to make progress. The House answered that call and passed legislation to triple the minimum wage – now it’s time for the Senate to follow suit and do it.”
