Pennsylvania’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved a measure that would raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2026 in a close vote Tuesday, a long-held party campaign plank that has run up against Republican legislative majorities for years. The measure would gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 by changing from $7.25 to $11 in its first year, then to $13 in 2025 and finally to $15 in 2026. The bill ties future increases to inflation, which sponsors say mirrors action taken by 15 other states. It has an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Not to go fully Housing Theory of Everything, but there is an expense-side to the issue as well. Simply throwing money at people isn’t hugely helpful if living expenses aren’t addressed, with housing being by far the single biggest contributor. From some 2021 data I found, only about 2% of PA hourly workers were earning that minimum wage. Look at up to $12, and you’ve still got only 20% of hourly workers, which would suggest that the actual market rate for most jobs has already naturally risen above the first proposed bump, so this won’t have a particularly large effect to begin with. There is also a minor issue that the vast majority of those jobs are in the service industry supplying general life necessities, so increasing labor expenses there will probably increase general cost of living, disproportionately affecting general lower income people more.
I wouldn’t strictly oppose this, and I’d generally say that people place a lot more importance on the minimum wage than is remotely worth it, but if half of the energy used towards the minimum wage fight went instead toward housing reform, I’d reckon a lot more good would come from it.