The end of session marathon at the state capitol that ended Saturday saw the defeat of many bills at the last minute, including a proposal to raise the minimum wage by one dollar.
With November’s elections on the minds of lawmakers, partisan wrangling on the floor of the house nearly defeated the proposal, and the senate killed it a few hours later.
Republicans said it would cause hardships for businesses and create more unemployment for unskilled workers. Democrats said those on the lowest rungs are losing ground to higher expenses since the wage hasn’t been adjusted for ten years.
Outgoing House Majority Leader Kim McMillan championed the bill, and says it’s unfortunate the senate killed it.
“Part of the problem is that some of the business organizations were able to convince some legislators that the bill would somehow negatively impact the business community. I think that’s wrong. Every study I’ve seen that has been done after increases in the federal minimum wage or even implementation of other state minimum wage laws have shown that there has been no impact on job creation, job retention.”
Out of several proposals to raise the minimum wage by varying amounts, the proposal raising it to $6.15 an hour lasted the longest.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM