Many things have changed within the past decade, but one thing that has remained the same is Pennsylvania\u2019s minimum wage. We asked local leaders if Pennsylvania plans to keep up with New York and Ohio as they prepare to raise wages in the new year.<\/p>\n
Since 2009 minimum wage in the state has been stuck at $7.25 an hour. It\u2019s been nearly two decades since an increase and it\u2019s currently uncertain whether the minimum wage will be raised in the coming year.<\/p>\n
Joe Schember addresses public one last time as mayor, awards keys to City of Erie <\/a><\/p>\n State Representative Bob Merski said that a raise is well overdue. \u201cI think there\u2019s not an appetite from my friends on the other side of the aisle to address the issue and what has happened is they\u2019ve kicked the can so far down the road now that it\u2019s been decades. Imagine in your job or anyone else\u2019s job if they haven\u2019t got a raise in 10-15 years, how hard it would be to make ends meet,\u201d he expressed passionately.<\/p>\n The Pennsylvania House Bill 1549, which proposes an increase of the state\u2019s minimum wage to $15 an hour, was passed by the House and has moved to the Senate.<\/p>\n On the Senate side, Dan Laughlin said legislation he plans to reintroduce will update an outdated standard by gradually raising wages to what the market is already asking, eventually reaching $11 an hour.<\/p>\n See the statement below from Sen. Laughlin:<\/p>\n \u201cThe labor market has already driven wages higher across Pennsylvania. Many employers are paying well above the current minimum wage because that\u2019s what today\u2019s workforce demands. The legislation I plan to re-introduce simply recognizes that reality and updates an outdated law by gradually raising the wage floor.<\/p>\n This is not a shock to the system or a dramatic mandate, it\u2019s a measured, phased-in approach that reflects what\u2019s already happening in our economy, gives employers time to plan, and keeps Pennsylvania competitive with neighboring states.\u201d<\/p>\n Justice for Chello Coalition still calling for transparency on accused shooter <\/a><\/p>\n We went to the community to see what residents think about the situation. One resident, Chloe Platt, believes that minimum wage is too low, \u201cI feel like as the prices of stuff are going up, especially with inflation, I feel like people can\u2019t even afford to live. Like my mom\u2019s a single mom, she lives at home, she\u2019s making $23 an hour and that\u2019s not even enough to get by,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n While Platt says that minimum wage should be higher, another resident told us that it shouldn\u2019t even exist. \u201cI feel that the businesses should decide on how much they need to pay their employees. Minimum wage was not meant to be a wage to live on; it was meant to be a wage to start with,\u201d said Joe Romanowicz.<\/p>\n