HARRISBURG – Philadelphia County Sen. Christine Tartaglione is introducing minimum wage reform legislation to create a “Living Wage” of $20 per hour for all Pennsylvanians. PA’s minimum wage has remained unchanged by the state lawmakers since July 6, 2009, when former Gov. Ed Rendell signed Senate Bill 1090, Sen. Tartaglione’s legislation raising PA’s minimum wage from $5.15. Senate Bill 1186 would raise PA’s minimum wage to $20 per hour on July 1st, 2024, and provide cost-of-living-adjusted increases every five years after that by tying the wage to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers. The bill will also allow municipalities to set a local minimum wage greater than the state minimum wage; set the tipped wage to 70% of the minimum wage; guard against wage theft by ensuring that the Department of Labor & Industry may recover wages and penalties for all violations of the act, not only when a complaint is filed; and increase monetary penalties for violations, which in some cases have not been updated since 1968. The bill is before the state Senate Labor & Industry Committee.
SEN. CHRISTINE TARTAGLIONE