Economic Opportunity, the Dignity of Work, and the Minimum Wage

Raising the minimum wage has always been about the dignity, as well as the wages, of working people. We who place so much value on our ability to provide for ourselves and our families should recognize the importance of ensuring a dignified living wage for all full-time workers.Ā  Yet during the debate on the minimum wage in the Pennsylvania House in May, Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives showed us what they think of low-wage workers. They proposed amendments to the minimum wage bill that are classic examples of blaming the victim. One would exclude workers without a high school degree, or the equivalent, from the protection of the minimum wage. Another would require workers to pass a literacy test to earn the minimum wage.Ā Ā  These representativesā€”many of whom come from districts in which ten percent or more of the population do not have a high school degree andā€¦ Continue reading

Penn Policy Statement on House Passage of HB 1500, the Minimum Wage Bill

Marc Stier, executive director of the Pennsylvania Policy Center, released the following statement after the PA House passed HB 1500. House passage of House Bill 1500 is a major step forward for all working people and businesses in the state of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvanians have been waiting for seventeen years for an increase in the minimum wage and for seven years for the state to embrace a path to a minimum wage of $15 per hour. This long overdue action comes at an ideal time. Employers all over the state are already raising wages to ensure they can find the employees they need. Raising the minimum wage would create a floor under wages that ensures businesses can raise their wages without being put at a competitive disadvantage. Workers making below, and just above, $15 per hour would see their wages go up, which would generate new consumption that would help businesses,ā€¦ Continue reading

Why We Should Raise the Minimum Wage in Pennsylvania to $15 Per Hour

Click here to print or read full screen. Ā  A high minimum wage ensures we have an economy that works for all of us. It protects workers and provides a dignified life. The minimum wage is a critical protection for workersā€”like the right to form unions, the social safety net, and a tax system that asks the rich to pay at a higher rate than the poor. These policies ensure that our economy works for all of us, not just the wealthy owners of huge corporations. We show respect for the dignity of work by ensuring all full-time workers are paid a decent wage that allows them to support themselves and their families. Opponents of a higher minimum wage want the work but wonā€™t provide the dignity. Since 1947, workersā€™ share of the benefits of the United States economy has shrunk drastically. But our economy is more productive than ever.ā€¦ Continue reading

Who Runs Harrisburg? You or The Corporate Elite?

Originally published in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, June 29, 2022.Ā  By Nick Pressley and Marc Stier Every rumor we hear about the state budget negotiations tells us that a reduction in the corporate net income tax (CNIT) rate is possible. It is unclear whether that corporate tax cut also includes some of Gov. Tom Wolfā€™s ā€œadd-backā€ provisions, which would make multinational corporations that currently pay nothing pay something. It appears that Republicans continue to oppose closing the Delaware loophole by enacting combined reporting. Every rumor we hear also says that raising the minimum wage may not be included because RepublicansĀ oppose it.Ā  Are we talking about cutting corporate taxes because it is a good idea?Ā AndĀ isĀ raising the minimum wage less likely because it is a bad idea? Iā€™ll come back toĀ theseĀ questions below,Ā but the short answers are ā€œnoā€ and ā€œno.ā€ If they are not bad ideas, thenĀ isĀ itĀ hard to raise the minimum wage and easierā€¦ Continue reading

A minimum wage hike would reverse 40-year pay stagnation for working people

Originally published in The Morning Call on March 11, 2021 Raising the minimum wage is about helping low-income workers do better ā€” but not just that. It is about changing the rules of our economy so that we all do better, now and in the future. To all do better we must reverse the 40-year trend that has seen skyrocketing incomes and wealth for the owners and executives of the largest corporations while income for working people and the middle class has been stagnant. This transformation was not the necessary result of a free market economy. The economy is a human creation subject to the rules we choose. Political and legal changes made at the behest of the corporate elite deliberately tilted the economy to their advantage and against the working and middle classes, as well as small businesses. What were those changes? First, lawmakers allowed the value of theā€¦ Continue reading

Five myths about raising the minimum wage ā€” debunked

OriginallyĀ published by the PA Capital-Star on October 3, 2019. By Marc Stier While raising the minimum wage has been a conversation that continues to reverberate around the capitol, itā€™s clear that many legislators are apprehensive about raising the wage for the first time in over a decade. Some legislators have told advocates they donā€™t believe there should even be a minimum wage. But raising the minimum wage isnā€™t just about a few more dollars a month in the pockets of working people. Itā€™s not a hand-out to low-wage workers. Itā€™s part of an effort to change the rules of our economy so that working people do better, reversing the trends of the last 40 years in which a greater share of our income and wealth has gone to the very rich. Raising the minimum wage will help benefit all working people and help expand the middle class. In our advocacyā€¦ Continue reading

Fact vs Myth on the Minimum Wage

A one-page version of this piece can be found here. Raising the minimum wage is not a hand-out to low-wage workers. Itā€™s part of an effort to change the rules of our economy so that working people do better, reversing the trends of the last 40 years in which a greater share of our income and wealth has gone to the very rich. Raising the minimum wage will help benefit all working people and help expand the middle class. But, in our advocacy to raise the minimum wage over the past few years, weā€™ve heard a number of misleading, incorrect talking points over and over in response to our efforts. We wanted to address the most common of those quickly and concisely:   ā€œThe minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. Itā€™s primarily for young people starting out.ā€ FALSE The minimum wage was established to ensure thatā€¦ Continue reading

Will There Be a Child Care Benefit Cliff if We Raise the Minimum Wage?

Published by KRC-PBPC here. Introduction Raising the minimum wage is one of the most important steps that Pennsylvania can take to fix a political economy that has been tilted against working people for decades. Two bills before the General Assembly, HB1215 and SB12, propose increasing the minimum wage to $12 per hour on July 1, 2019, and increasing the wage in 50-cent increments until it reaches $15 per hour in 2025. Raising the minimum wage to $15 would ultimately lift wages for two million Pennsylvanians, not only those who make the minimum wage now or who would after an increase, but also many whose wages would be pushed higher when the floor on wages is raised. Raising the minimum wage would also help local economies and the economy of the state as a whole by giving working people the capacity to buy more goods and services. Every state around Pennsylvaniaā€¦ Continue reading

On the CBO Report About a Federal Minimum Wage Increase

Originally published by KRC-PBPC here. HARRISBURGā€”Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, made the following statement in regards to yesterday’s Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report about raising the federal minimum wage: “The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the agency that provides budget and economic analysis to Congress, released a report yesterday on the economic impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15/hour by 2025. The main finding from this report, as we have found similarly in our own research, is that raising the minimum wage to $15/hour would benefit millions of low-wage workers across the country and that these benefits would far outweigh the costs. “The benefits of increasing the minimum wage include: reducing poverty; increasing the wages of 27.3 million low- and low-to-middle income families; and shifting money from corporate profits to low-wage workers, thereby reducing inequality. This policy change would result in a reduction of the numberā€¦ Continue reading

PA House Democrats Clarify the Minimum Wage Debate

Originally published by KRC-PBPC.Ā  Yesterday, Pennsylvania House Democrats, under minority leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny), stepped up in a big way for raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania. And in doing so they made it obvious who is responsible for blocking a path to raising the minimum wage. During the debate on the state budget, one Democrat after another stood up to complain that the Republicans had refused to raise the minimum wage as part of the budget. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Turzai tried to cut off debate, bizarrely ruling that raising the minimum wage was not part of the budget. This is nonsense. Raising the minimum wage would both increase taxes and reduce spending (mostly on Medicaid) and obviously has budgetary implications. If it is legitimate to discuss the lack of funding for education or for General Assistance or infrastructure in the budgetā€”and no one denies thatā€”itā€™s certainlyā€¦ Continue reading