HARRISBURG, PA — State Sen. Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia), joined State Sen. Art Haywood State Rep. Patty Kim (D-103), State Rep. Chris Rabb (D-200), and advocacy organization State Innovation Exchange (SiX) for a news conference in response to passage of legislation to increase the minimum wage rate to $9.50 by January 2022.

“Any increase in the minimum wage is a step in the right direction, but the bill adopted by the Senate today falls far short of what Pennsylvania workers need and deserve. This is not the bill that I have been fighting for. It’s not the bill that my colleagues in the Senate and House have been fighting for,” said Tartaglione. “And it’s not the bill that workers have been fighting for. Pennsylvania workers deserve more. We must keep fighting for more, and we will not stop until we get it.”

“I voted yes to increase the minimum wage rate to $9.50 over a period of 24 months. There is still no change in the tipped wage for restaurant workers, no annual cost-of-living adjustment with inflation, and it keeps the ban on cities from increasing their own minimum wage,” said Sen. Haywood. “I will continue efforts in my district to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, business by business and block by block, until there is a fair wage.”