Senator Costa: Thank you very much, Governor. And let me first start by saying thank you for trying to lead the way with respect to making sure that we continue to have this conversation about minimum wage increase in Pennsylvania. I can tell you, having been part of the negotiations of the budget process that have taken place over the course of the past several months, always at the forefront of those conversations, not only about the state budget, but on important policy matters, the governor has placed minimum wage increase as one of the major items that need to be addressed here in this commonwealth. And we continue to have that and his support and his activity, or I should say his actions this week, signing the executive order, leads the way and helps to demonstrate his commitment along those lines.
I can only say this; that as Senate Democratic Leader, we’ve had a number of opportunities to address this issue. In fact, we’ve done it in the past. It’s high time we come back to do that. My colleague in the Senate, Senator Tartaglione, has legislation increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, I believe, and then with the cost of living increase, as well as provisions for tip wages. But all you need to do is look at Pennsylvania and look at every single state around us. Every single state around us has increased their minimum wage above the $7.25 over the course of the last several years.
We’re the only one that has not done it. So we look at Ohio, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, New Jersey. They all have significantly higher minimum wages in their states because those state legislatures took the action to be able to do that. They weren’t concerned about the perceived negative impact on increase in minimum wage. In fact, they see firsthand the opposite. They see economic growth. They see additional revenue. They see jobs growing in those communities and a higher standard of living for men and women who are earning wages at the minimum wage level. And I would repeat one thing that I think some of the other folks have said and the governor has already mentioned.
Minimum wage disproportionately does impact women, and particularly women in heads of households. We have more than half a million women who head our households in this commonwealth who aren’t even minimum waged. What we can do is work with them and help them be able to raise that standard of living for themselves and for their families. So that’s why it’s extremely important. We’ve got to get back to work in Harrisburg. At least address some of the policies. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle don’t want to address budget issues.
At a minimum what we should be talking about in a bipartisan way is addressing the issue of minimum wage as well as other measures that are policy issues that really need our attention. So I’m very, very pleased and want to say thank you to the governor for coming to Pittsburgh to continue to talk about this very important issue of raising the minimum wage. Thank you, Governor.
