Mention of raising the minimum wage got Gov. Josh Shapiro a hearty reception at Tuesday's budget address, but if past is prologue, will the proposal go anywhere in the Legislature?
But none were as loud as when he renewed a pitch to lawmakers to at long last raise the minimum wage as all of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states have done. “Our minimum wage in Pennsylvania has been stuck at $7.
25 an hour for the last 16 years,” Shapiro said sharply. “In that time, every single one of our neighboring states has raised the wage for their workers. Four of our six neighbors are at $15 or more. Ohio is on their way to $15. Even West Virginia is ahead of us.” As Shapiro spoke, chants of “raise the wage” resounded through the chamber as fellow Democrats rose to their feet. Shapiro broke script to say he saw half the Senate clapping, which would have included some Republicans since they hold a 28-22 majority. In a recap of recent history, Shapiro pointed out that the Democrat-controlled House has twice passed legislation to increase the commonwealth’s minimum wage above the federal minimum, also locked at $7.25 since 2009. “And each time, the Senate refused to act,” he said, noting the stagnant minimum wage hurts more than half-a-million workers making less than $15 an hour.” As Democrats have argued in the past, Shapiro said that the higher minimum wage would save the commonwealth $300 million and shrink the public assistance budget by “growing the workforce and putting more money back in our workers’ pockets.”The standoff over the years has gripped the legislature in the face of strong public support for the measure. “Every time we’ve asked a question about raising the minimum wage, a sizable majority of voters, typically more than 60%, say they support a higher minimum wage,” said Franklin & Marshall College political analyst and pollster Berwood Yost.Yet the measure has failed repeatedly in the legislature. “I think there is a strong philosophical belief among many Republicans that market forces are a better way of setting wages, but there are clearly voters in both parties that support the idea when given the chance,” Yost said. “We’ve asked about raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania for more than a decade, but...it has not happened.”“We’ve got our sleeves rolled up and we’ve got more work to do,” Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton said at a press conference after the budget announcement. “We know that there are still things left on the to do list...We still gotta finally raise the minimum wage.” In a post-budget speech interview with PCNTV, Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee Chairman Vince Hughes urged his chamber colleagues to act on the House bill. “We’ve got to get it done,” said the Philadelphia Democrat. “House Democrats have sent us a bill.....Senate Republicans need to get off the dime and get that done.” GOP leaders didn’t entirely rule out a minimum wage deal, but were very skeptical that it would be the $15/hour Shapiro is looking for. Sen. Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana County, said Republicans are “willing to have a conversation about minimum wage and to see if we can come to a compromise, but,” he added, ”based on the way the governor delivered that message, I think he’s more interested in the political talking point than actually getting something done on the issue.” GOP House leader, Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford/Fulton, stressed that other states have minimum wages between $7.25 and $15, such as West Virginia at $10. The largest healthcare union gave its support for raising the minimum wage as a way to retain much needed workers. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, which represents more than 20,000 workers, said it “strongly supports” raising the “state’s shamefully low $7.25 minimum wage, to ensure a floor that allows working Pennsylvanians to better support their families.” “The living wage for a single adult with no children in our state is over $22, and we call on healthcare employers to go beyond the bare minimum to recruit and retain essential healthcare workers,” SEIU said.The Keystone Research Center called the proposal a “long-overdue policy correction” for an essential labor standard. “Pennsylvania’s $7.25 minimum wage has been stagnant for 17 years, while essentials like housing and healthcare have become increasingly unaffordable,” Claire Kovach, senior research analyst at Keystone Research. “A $15 minimum wage would align Pennsylvania with neighboring states, lift pay for hundreds of thousands of workers, and help reduce poverty while narrowing racial and gender pay gaps.” The proposal was criticized by some business and conservative economic groups, including the Employment Policies Institute. Spokeswoman Brooke McCollum cited a study by the nonprofit research group that shows implementing a $15 wage in Pennsylvania could cost the state some 86,000 jo“Pennsylvania lawmakers have rejected past wage hike proposals – and for good reason,” EPI said. “Decades of economic research shows raising the minimum wage kills jobs, raises prices, and forces local businesses to close.” The Pennsylvania chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business has opposed efforts to raise the state minuimum wage, warning that Shapiro’s proposals would hurt the small business community. State Director Greg Moreland said Pennsylvania small businesses were “on high alert” after Shapiro unveiled his budget proposals, which he characterized as “more costly and burdensome mandates” on the small business community. Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, has in the past signaled that raising the hourly wage wasFor his part, Yost expects little to change in the foreseeable future. “I would not expect it to happen if Republicans retain control of at least one chamber of the Legislature, but it will be interesting to see how much conversation about the minimum wage plays out during the fall campaigns given the focus these days on affordability,” he said. Democrats have a one-seat majority in the House; and Republicans have a 28-22 majority in the Senate.Ivey DeJesus is a professional journalist with more than 25 years of experience. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists, The Associated Press and the Pennsylvania Newspaper...
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