Swearing In Ceremony

On January 1, the State Senate held its swearing-in ceremony where newly and re-elected Senators took their oath of office. The Senate Democratic Caucus welcomes five new members and welcomed back seven.

A new legislative session is a fresh start in many ways for the Senators who are returning, but especially so for the new members we have in the 2019-20 session. We are meeting as a caucus for the first time and hearing the priorities and ideas of our new members but know that the Senate Democratic Caucus remains committed to advocating policies that benefit working people and that commitment is renewed and enhanced by the five members who joined our ranks.

Raising the Minimum Wage

At the beginning of this year, many workers around the country received a pay raise because of state policy on the minimum wage. Pennsylvania workers were not among them. Our state has not seen a minimum wage increase in a decade, and our rate remains at $7.25 per hour. This is shameful. I have cosponsored many bills in recent years to raise the wage because it has a huge impact on the lives of workers in the 43rd district. One misconception that often comes up in debate over the minimum wage is who those workers are; many people think that minimum wage earners are just teenagers working part time while they’re in school but that isn’t the case.

Forty-six percent of minimum wage earners are over the age of 40, and only five percent are under the age of 19. Seventy percent of them work full-time.

If we increased the minimum wage to even $10 per hour, 23,978 residents of our district would see an immediate raise; if we increased it to $12 per hour, 33,580 would see a raise; if we increased it to New York’s rate of $15 per hour, 44,642 people would see a raise.

I’m going to keep working to increase our wage, and I hope 2019 is the year we finally do it.

In the 43rd

We’ve met so many exciting business owners recently that we are doubling the number of episodes of In The 43rd. You can now see a new episode every Wednesday afternoon on my Facebook page, Twitter, and website.
Check out this recent episode from Wilkinsburg at the Pittsburgh Yarn Company!

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