It’s crunch time for action on minimum wage

It’s June in Harrisburg, and that can mean only one thing for the nation’s largest full-time group of lawmakers: Time to get down to business.

As the June 30 deadline approaches to adopt a state budget, lawmakers start working on some of those nagging issues that have been proposed during the year but left unattended.

You may recall reading here about the perennial effort to fairly fund public schools in Pennsylvania or the continuing cry by homeowners for property tax relief.

Pension reform? Skyrocketing costs of college? Roads, bridges and the turnpike commission? All topics that get bandied about in the halls of Harrisburg with little meaningful action to fully address the issues.

June offers the best opportunity for action as lawmakers get into the chess game that leads up to approval of a state budget.

This is the one month when bipartisan differences can produce the compromise necessary to get a budget approved and signed.

This year, according to a report last week by The Associated Press, the minimum wage debate is the “horse trade” getting attention during the budget days countdown. It’s way past due.

The debate centers on a proposal by Gov. Tom Wolf to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 an hour from the current $7.25. Wolf is also asking for annual 50-cent increases to bring the state minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2025.

While more than half of the states in the nation, including all of Pennsylvania’s neighbors, have raised minimum wages above the $7.25 federal mark, a jump to $12 would be among the highest.

Efforts are also underway in Washington to raise the federal minimum wage which has been at the same level since 2009.

Republican lawmakers contend that a large increase would hurt small business owners and kill jobs growth. Wolf’s administration and Democratic lawmakers say that an increase will boost state finances and improve earnings among the working poor.

The debate has gained attention in areas beyond Harrisburg. An organization called Raise the Wage PA held a rally last month in Norristown to drive home the point that low wages hurt the overall economy in the poorer towns of the region.

Rally leader John Meyerson told MediaNews Group that the low minimum wage is responsible for the vacant storefronts in Norristown.

“People don’t have the disposable income. They don’t make enough money to go to Lou’s to buy a zep or go to these other stores,” Meyerson said. “You need money to do that, and wages are artificially low.”

The $7.25 hourly wage means that a worker putting in an honest day of work is making $290 week, “if you’re lucky enough to find a job that even gives you 40 hours a week,” rally participant Adrienne Standley said. “The average cost of housing for a single adult here in Montgomery County is $900 a month. The numbers don’t add up.”

“This is not a livable wage; this is poverty wage,” said state Sen. Katie Muth, D-44th Dist.

“Forty percent of the people in my district that make minimum wage are over the age of 40. This isn’t a high school kid problem, or a college summer job problem.

“This is a problem for all age workers and we have an obligation as state legislature to raise the minimum wage and make it possible for people not to have to worry about how to put food on the table,” Muth said.

Workers earning minimum wage – many of whom are minorities – are living below federal poverty guidelines.

Pennsylvania has gone 10 years without a raise for its lowest paid workers. Now that lawmakers are finally considering a raise, and now that it’s June when proposals are debated seriously, we urge them to do the right thing for Pennsylvania’s lowest paid workers and increase the minimum wage.

Just as important, action should mandate annual increases to help people achieve salary growth.

Think of it as the annual cost of living raises lawmakers enjoy. Workers deserve a living wage. It’s time to start closing that gap.