$9.50 Minimum Wage Bill Advances

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A compromise package to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage for the first time since 2009 is advancing in the Legislature, up against a deadline for Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to relent on his effort to extend overtime pay eligibility to thousands of workers.  A Senate committee on Monday passed a newly unveiled measure to gradually raise the minimum wage to $9.50 in 2022.  The state’s current minimum wage is the federal minimum of $7.25.  A spokeswoman for Senate Republican leaders says they expect to bring it to a floor vote this week, although its prospects in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are unclear.  The bill is more modest than what Wolf proposed in January, and requires him to make a number of concessions. That includes rescinding his proposed overtime regulation before a state rule-making board votes on it Thursday.