Lawmakers, workers rally for PA to Raise the Wage
Pennsylvania remains dead last in nation in minimum wage
Rep. Joanna E. McClinton May 5, 2025 | 1:27 PM
HARRISBURG, May 5 – Workers, state lawmakers and union leaders rallied for the General Assembly to finally raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania.
“It’s time! We must raise the wage,” said state Rep. Roni Green, who represents portions of Philadelphia. “We know we have to raise our voices and rain doesn’t stop us. Our six neighboring states have raised the wage and if lawmakers don’t know how they can vote for this, maybe they should visit one of our neighboring states to find out.”
Green has authored a bill, H.B. 1150, that would raise the minimum wage to $15 on Jan. 1, 2026. She hosted a House Majority Policy Committee on the issue before the rally.
“We are standing in solidarity because it’s long overdue that we raise the minimum wage,” said Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton, who represents portions of Philadelphia and Delaware County. “The people making the minimum wage, it is not teenagers in summer jobs. It’s people that look like me: women that are raising children, that are heads of households. It is insane that we are telling them to work and be poor, but that is exactly what we are doing.”
A recording of the hearing’s livestream can be found here.
“Enough is enough; for 19 years, Pennsylvania workers have been told to wait, to work harder, to stretch that dollar that doesn’t stretch anymore” said state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione, who represents portions of Philadelphia. “It’s been 6,876 days since we raised the wage. That’s a disgrace. It’s a wage so low it’s defined by the federal government as below the poverty level. While the cost of everything else has gone up, wages have been frozen.”
Tartaglione has a companion bill in the state Senate to raise the wage, S.B. 19.
“We have a number of minimum wage bills illustrating the fact we need to finally get this bill across the finish line,” said House Majority Policy Committee Chairman Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, who represents portions of Erie. “Although the majority of our small business owners pay more than the $7.25 minimum wage, we need to enact this law so wages cannot be rolled back, and workers are ensured the right of a fair wage.”
The state House passed a bill to raise the minimum wage during the 2023-24 session, but the bill did not receive a vote in the Senate.
“It is time that my Republican colleagues in the state Senate finally give working people a raise in this state,” Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said. “The governor and I have included raising the wage in every budget we have presented since we have been in office. Now is the time to get it across the finish line.”
Monday’s House Majority Policy hearing featured testimony from Andrea Grove, Elementary Coffee Co. owner; and Claire Kovach, Keystone Research Center senior research analyst.
“We are supposed to be the leader on the East Coast,” said Rob Bair, president of the PA State Building and Construction Trades. “Why in the hell are we stuck for this many years at this wage, it’s a sin!”
Information about today’s hearing and other House Majority Policy Committee hearings can be found at pahouse.com/policy.
“Republican or Democrat, if you say you support working people, if you say you’re pro-union, then it’s time to show it,” said Sam Williamson, the vice president of 32BJ SEIU. “It’s time to prove it! We expect to see you fighting to raise the minimum wage like it’s the most important thing this legislative session, because sisters and brothers, it is.”
“It’s been too long,” said Wendell Young IV, the UFCW Local 1776 president. “Think about it, West Virginia? They have a higher minimum wage and so do most other states in the nation. We must be doing something wrong.”