Minimum Wage Raise: Current rate and previous rate
The bill to increase the minimum wage passed the state senate in November. Right now, the current rate is $7.25 an hour. It's been that way since 2009.
If that bill gets Governor Tom Wolf's signature, workers in Pennsylvania could start earning $8 an hour by July 1.
The last time the state legislature voted to raise the minimum wage was in 2006. Then, the rate increased to $6.25 an hour.
At $15 an hour, nearly 93,000 adults will leave Medicaid and the workers will generate more than $300 million in state tax revenue in 2026, according to Gov. Tom Wolf's administration.
Minimum Wage Raise: Workers
With recent efforts for a minimum wage raise in the state, common misconceptions are now part of the topic.
The misconceptions? Low-wage workers are mostly teenagers and people with little education.
According to a study by the Keystone Research Center, nearly 90% of workers who would be affected by the raise are over 20 years old. More than 30% are 40 years or older.
The study also shows 41% of workers who would benefit from the increase have some college education and 43.5% graduated high school.
Study by Keystone Research CenterRaising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would benefit more than 2 million workers in the Commonwealth by 2025, researchers said.
The same study by KRC shows 1/3 of Pennsylvania's minimum wage workers will see a raise. That includes people who get paid below the rate and people whose wage is just above the proposed minimum wage.
Researchers add workers will see more than $9.5 billion in yearly wages which would eventually make its way back into our economy.
Federal Overtime Pay Rules
A new federal rule would make thousands of workers eligible for overtime pay. It guarantees time-and-a-half pay to most full-time salaried workers if they make less than $45,500 by 20-22.
This rule would be an addition to a rule that went into effect on January 1, 2019. It applies to nearly all hourly employees who earn less than 35,000 dollars a year.
The federal rule would go into effect in the state if it gets approval from the Independent Regulatory Review Commission on January 31.