Urging the General Assembly to pass legislation allowing cities of the first class to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, an essential step toward ensuring that all Philadelphians are able to keep up with the rising cost of living and have the opportunity to build a better future.

Urging the General Assembly to pass legislation allowing cities of the first class to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, an essential step toward ensuring that all Philadelphians are able to keep up with the rising cost of living and have the opportunity to build a better future. WHEREAS, Between creation of Pennsylvania’s minimum wage in 1968 and 1980, the General Assembly regularly increased in the minimum wage. Between 1981 and 1998, the Commonwealth had no changes in the minimum wage; and WHEREAS, Pennsylvania is one of only 20 states that has not raised its minimum wage from $7.25, which has been at this rate since 2009, leaving residents across the commonwealth unable to adjust to the increased cost of living for more than 15 years; and WHEREAS, Philadelphia is the most populated city in the Commonwealth, has the highest cost of living in the Commonwealth, and is one of the poorest cities in the country. Our current minimum wage as well as inability to set and regulate our own wages negatively and disproportionately impacts our constituents; and WHEREAS, Philadelphia City Council’s inability to regulate local wages is an anomaly among large cities nationwide, underscoring the need to create state-level policy to match our substantially larger constituency and higher cost of living compared with the rest of the Commonwealth. Without the legislative authority to regulate wages, Philadelphia remains dependent on the General Assembly to aid in our mission to promote eco…