$9.50 Minimum Wage Bill Advances In Pennsylvania Legislature

A compromise package to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage for the first time since 2009 began advancing in the Legislature on Monday, up against a deadline for Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to relent on his effort to extend overtime pay eligibility to thousands of workers.

A Senate committee passed the newly unveiled measure to raise the minimum wage in four steps to $9.50 in 2022, up from the state’s current minimum wage, the federal minimum of $7.25.

Wolf, who negotiated the bill behind closed doors with leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature, supports the bill, his office said in a statement.

​Pa. Senate Bill 79 for the 2019-20 session is sponsored by Senate Democrat Christine Tartaglione and is backed by Gov. Tom Wolf.

Wolf originally proposed an increase to $12 per hour to take immediate effect and it would have been followed by six 50 cent increases that would make the minimum wage $15 per hour by 2025.

This current amendment to the bill would move the state minimum wage to:
- $8 an hour on July 1, 2020
- $8.50 on Jan. 1, 2021
- $9 on July 1, 2021
- $9.50 on Jan. 1, 2022

Now the bill must get through the Senate. A vote could happen later this week. If passed, the bill would then go to the Republican-controlled House.
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Pennsylvania is one of 21 states that have a minimum wage that is the same as the federally set amount of $7.25