March 2020 File Photo provided by Gov. Wolf
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania has dug itself out of a financial hole, and now it’s time to continue investing in the future. In his final budget address Tuesday, Governor Tom Wolf says the state has come a long way from a $2-3 billion structural budget deficit into a $2-3 billion budget surplus – without raising taxes.
Now he says it’s time to help families and raise the state minimum wage, “Most of the states in our region are on their way to a $15 minimum wage. Not here. Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is still stuck at $7.25. Pennsylvanians have not gotten a raise in 13 years…adjusted for inflation they’ve actually taken a $2 an hour pay cut. This is embarrassing.”
The governor’s proposal includes increasing the minimum wage to $12 per hour on July 1, with annual increases of $0.50 until reaching $15 in 2028, with an estimated 1.5 million people getting a boost in pay.
Governor Wolf also proposing an additional $1.25 billion in basic education funding – which would bring the total going through the Fair Funding Formula to more than $2 billion, or 26.5 percent of state funding, “It promises that a child’s chance to thrive will not be determined by their zip code. Now its time to keep that promise. This would be one of those cans that can be easily kicked down the road. Last year, we made a historic investment in our schools. This year we have an opportunity to build on that momentum.”
He says funding also includes heavy investments in state universities, which the governor says are ‘transforming themselves into a brighter future.”
The governor also warned about the growing issue of divided partisan politics, “A significant amount of our political leaders are turning against the very idea of democracy itself. That kind of nihilism is poisonous. We lose our only mechanism for resolving our disagreements fairly or even peacefully and without it, we’re a nation where we have no responsibility to work alongside our neighbor.”
That message from the governor comes after losing executive powers stemming from frustrations over pandemic shutdowns.
