Mar 1, 2024 By Karen Mansfield 3 min read

Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield

When she isn’t cross-stitching, doing crossword puzzles or spending time with her grandchildren, Debbie Engel enjoys getting lost in a good book. She reads in a chair left behind by her son Louis “Dewey” Phillips Jr., who passed away three years ago due to addiction.

Pennsylvania’s minimum wage of $7.25 – the lowest of any neighboring state – hasn’t increased in 15 years.

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis joined lawmakers and fair wage advocates at a virtual town hall on Tuesday to address increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and ending sub-minimum wages – currently set at $2.83 an hour – for tipped workers.

A series of national and statewide polls show the economy is a top voter concern ahead of the 2024 election.

“Right now, all polling across the country shows the top issue for voters, especially young voters, is the rising cost of living and jobs with living wages, by far,” said Saru Jayaraman, co-founder and chairman of One Fair Wage, noting the issue also ranks at the top for Black and Latino voters.

During his Feb. 6 budget address, Gov. Josh Shapiro pushed to increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, and Pennsylvania’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last June approved a measure that would raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2026. The bill has stalled in the state Senate.

Davis voiced support for raising the minimum wage.

“All work has value. There is dignity in a hard day’s work. Pennsylvania workers don’t want handouts, they want a hand up in an economy that gives everybody a shot to succeed,” said Davis. “We want all workers to make a living wage.”

While Pennsylvania’s minimum hourly rate has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009, on Jan. 1, Ohio’s minimum increased to $10 an hour, Maryland to $15 an hour, and New York to $16 an hour.

According to Keystone Research Center, more than 1.3 million workers in Pennsylvania would see their wages increase if the minimum wage is raised to $15 per hour. KRC said the minimum wage increase would reduce poverty rates and help decrease gender and race pay disparities, while also directly benefitting a higher proportion of rural workers.

As the minimum wage remains stagnant, cost of housing and other essential expenses continue to rise, said Miracle Jones, director of advocacy and policy for 1Hood.

KRS contends a minimum wage of $15 would put money in the pockets of working families and boost the overall economy.

Kendra Sheehy, a 37-year-old Pittsburgh-area restaurant worker, has been employed as a tipped worker since she was 13, and was forced to move back in with her family as costs for rent and costs of living increased.

“When you’re living on tips, you are never going to leave survival mode because you do not know how much money is coming in day-to-day,” she said. “It just keeps you completely unsure of where you are, when your paycheck is dependent on the weather, or how people are feeling that day.”