Pennsylvania’s lowest paid workers need a pay raise | Opinion
Updated Feb 05, 2021;
Wendell Young IV and Sen. Christine “Tina” Tartaglione
It is rare that you will find the president of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, union leaders, advocates, and members of the General Assembly all on the same page. But after a three-hour long hearing hosted by chair of the Democratic Policy Committee Senator Katie Muth at the request of Senators Tartaglione, Haywood and Kane, it seems there might be one issue we could all agree upon: eliminating local government pre-emption for minimum wage laws.
Gene Barr, President of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, spent an hour defending the chamber’s position against a minimum wage increase citing the impact on businesses and job loss it would create. He claimed that a statewide minimum wage increase is not what was needed but instead more investment in resources such as job training and childcare.