Senate Sends Fight Over Minimum Wage To State House

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Legislation to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage for the first time since 2009 is headed to the state House of Representatives, passed in the Senate against a deadline to stall Gov. Tom Wolf’s regulatory package to substantially expand overtime pay eligibility.  The Republican-controlled Senate approved the bill Wednesday, 42-7, to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage in four steps to $9.50 in 2022.  Pennsylvania’s current minimum wage is the federal minimum of $7.25, which lags each of its neighbors and most other states.  Its prospects in the Republican-controlled House are unclear.  The bill is far more modest than the immediate $12 minimum that Wolf proposed in January.  Another concession Wolf made in the agreement with Republican lawmakers is rescinding his proposed overtime regulation before a state rule-making board votes on it Thursday.