Pa. House votes to raise state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026
The Pennsylvania House has passed a bill that would raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026. But the measure is unlikely to pass the Senate and become law.
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HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s minimum wage could increase to $15 an hour by 2026 under a bill passed by the state House on Tuesday, a top priority for Democrats for more than a decade.
The state House, with a one-seat Democratic majority, voted to increase the state minimum wage from $7.25 to $11 at the start of 2024 and increase it by $2 until it reaches $15 per hour in 2026.
Two southeastern Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in the 103-100 vote.
The minimum wage legislation is unlikely to pass the state Senate, which has a Republican majority.
Senate Republicans have been open to smaller minimum wage increases in recent years, but Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said in a statement Tuesday that $15 per hour is “not reasonable and not viable.”
Democrats in the state Capitol have tried for more than a decade to raise the state’s minimum wage. The Pennsylvania General Assembly last raised raised the minimum wage in 2006, and Pennsylvania’s wage is the lowest of any state in the region.
House Republicans, however, opposed increasing the state’s minimum wage and noted that only a fraction of Pennsylvania’s 6.1 million workers are paid at that level.
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About 2% of Pennsylvania’s workers earned the minimum wage last year, or 63,000 workers, according to a March Department of Labor and Industry report. Approximately 13% of Pennsylvania workers, or 819,000 workers, earn just above minimum wage between $7.26 and $12 per hour.
Rep. Jason Dawkins (D., Philadelphia), who chairs the House Labor and Industry committee, said the bill is a compromise for House Democrats, who want the wage to be immediately raised to $15 an hour.
“You know you have good legislation when no one is happy,” Dawkins said during the House floor debate ahead of the vote Tuesday evening.
Philadelphia’s delegation in Harrisburg had hoped to increase the state’s minimum wage higher than $15 an hour.
“Is this the $18 or $15 minimum wage bill right now that we need? No, it’s not,” Green said during the House debate. “Is it a path to the $18 or $15 minimum wage we need? Yes, it is.”
He added: “Rising tides will lift all boats, and today, we will lift all boats for all low-wage workers.”
Few companies pay minimum wage in today’s labor market — and House Republicans argued that any change in the state’s minimum wage could artificially inflate Pennsylvanians’ wages and result in people losing their jobs.
“Folks, we’ve already seen it. Our convenience stores are now automated,” said Rep. Torren Ecker (R., Adams). “These folks will be replaced.”
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Other Republican House members said an increased minimum wage would hurt small businesses most.
Rep. Katie Klunk (R., York) said the Famous Hot Weiner, a 100-year-old hot dog shop in her district in Hanover, had to raise its prices six times last year.
Still, 2022 was the least profitable year in the company’s history due to increasing prices for supplies and labor, she said. Raising the tipped minimum wage would hurt their business more.
“Carefully consider the unintended — but real — consequences this legislation will have on real, average Pennsylvanians and family-owned businesses in our local communities,” Klunk added.
The Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce supports raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour “as a means to promote inclusive growth in our region,” a spokesperson said in an email.
“For our economy to truly thrive, it is imperative that residents have access to jobs that provide good-paying wages,” said Shannon McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Chamber. “We firmly believe that the employer’s increased ability to provide these jobs can help solve many of the issues facing our community.”
Once the minimum wage reaches $15 an hour under this proposal, Pennsylvania’s wage would be increased automatically in response to inflation.
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The bill would also increase the minimum tipped wage for servers and bartenders to 60% of the minimum wage.
Increasing the minimum wage for tipped workers would hurt the restaurant industry that is still trying to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, said Rep. Valerie Gaydos (R., Allegheny).
The bill would need to pass the state Senate before it went to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk. But that’s unlikely.
However, Republican state Sen. Dan Laughlin (Erie) introduced companion legislation, signaling that there could be some bipartisan support for the issue.