Keystone Today

Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) called for an across-the-board minimum wage hike.

"I've tried to raise the wage every year that I've been in office. No surprise — I'll be doing it again this year. I'm calling for an increase to $12/hr with a path to $15/hr for all Pennsylvania workers. Pennsylvanians are struggling to live in 2022 on a 2006 wage. We need change now," Wolf tweeted Jan. 27.

Accompanying his call for a minimum wage hike for all employees in Pennsylvania was an executive order amendment that increases pay for employees under his jurisdiction to no less than $12 an hour, which will increase by 50 cents per year, until reaching $15 an hour in 2024. 

Executive Order 2016-02 was signed in March of 2016 by Wolf, which raised the minimum wage of employees under his jurisdiction to $10.15 per hour. The bill was amended in 2018 to raise it to $12 and add the progressive yearly increases. Senate Bill 12 is an amendment to The Minimum Wage Act of 1968, which still sets the standard today. 

This week, he amended his executive order again, accelerating the timeline for the minimum wage increase once more. 

“I am committed to supporting workers, creating family-sustaining jobs and ensuring that, in Pennsylvania, hard work is rewarded fairly," Wolf said, according to the Official Pennsylvania Government Website. "In 2018, I made a promise to our state workers to ensure that they are fairly compensated for their service to our commonwealth."

Wages in the US. are rising drastically as the country endures a labor shortage, according to The Washington Post. Wolf joins a long list of Democrats who are cheerleading the raise in wages and say that wage increases typically accompany boosts in productivity and other economic health indicators. 

“Increases in the minimum wage raises employee morale, productivity and work quality, while lowering turnover and training costs," Wolf said, according to the Official Pennsylvania Government Website. "Accelerating the increase to $15 will better align worker salaries with the current cost of living, while providing even greater cost and efficiency savings for state government.”

Wolf's administration has historically supported workers’ rights and fair wages. This past fall, the governor took executive action instructing the Department of Community and Economic Development to ensure that businesses receiving state assistance provide workers with paid sick leave and pay no less than the minimum wage.