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MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORWe are starting 2023 off with a reminder that Pennsylvania still has the lowest minimum wage of all of its surrounding states — and the gap is getting wider. Let’s work together this year to raise the minimum wage. It’s long overdue. Thank you for supporting our work,
Stephen Herzenberg It’s time to put our money where our mouth is on raising the minimum wage | OpinionBy Claire Kovach
Excerpt from the Opinion piece published in the PA Capital Star 1/29/23
Workers are struggling, and years of legislative inaction have taken their toll. As of this week, the minimum-wage worker who stands where I stood in Pennsylvania more than a dozen years ago is earning the exact same wage I earned back then—a buying power down 27%—while the living wage for that county is more than $15 per hour.
Action surrounding minimum wage policy will be an early test for new Pennsylvania House leadership—will the legislature finally begin to get in line with the opinions of the majority of Pennsylvanians?
In the MediaStatement on Murder of Tyre NicholsDemcast | 1/28/23
“The murder of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers took place in a state far from Pennsylvania. But it reveals a basic truth about structural racism in policing that sadly characterizes every state in the entire country, including Pennsylvania. Black people are not the only ones who are unjustly attacked and murdered by police officers. But the evidence is clear that they are disproportionately the victims of unjustified police violence.” Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Remains at $7.25 While It Rises in Other StatesPublic News Service | 1/24/23 “We have a report from, a study from, Keystone that says about 1.5 million Pennsylvanians would benefit by moving the minimum wage up to $15 an hour,” said Haywood. “I’ve seen another report that says about one out of four people in Philadelphia would get a raise, and would benefit if we get to $15 an hour.” 34 Percent Of Pittsburgh Properties Tax Exempt, Mayor SaysPatch | 1/24/23
A report released last year by the Pittsburgh Budget and Policy Center indicated, for example, that if UPMC were not exempt as a purely public charity, it would pay an estimated $50 million annually in property taxes to the city and the Pittsburgh Public Schools. |