Tom Wolf’s Agenda: Raise The Minimum Wage To $10.10 An Hour

Tom Wolf, who was elected governor in November, wants to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania. Here are five things to know about the issue.

1. Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

That’s the same rate as the federal minimum wage.

Nationwide, 29 states have a minimum wage above the federal level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

2. Wolf says raising the minimum wage would create jobs.

Wolf’s “Fresh Start” policy plan, released in February 2014, says raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and indexing it to inflation would raise wages for 20 percent of Pennsylvanians and lead to the creation of 5,000 jobs by 2016.

The plan cites the Economic Policy Institute, which describes itself as dedicated to including “the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions,” as its source for those figures.

Read more: http://www.ydr.com/politics/ci_27320709/tom-wolfs-agenda-raise-minimum-wage-10-10

Unemployment Benefits End For 86,900 In Pennsylvania

The year is starting with a social safety net disappearing for 86,900 unemployed Pennsylvanians.

Congress allowed the legislation authorizing emergency unemployment compensation, the federal extension of unemployment benefits, to expire as of Monday.

That means that the unemployment compensation debit cards issued by the state department of Labor and Industry will not be reloaded for people who have exhausted their original six months of unemployment payments.

According to the National Employment Law Project in New York City, the cuts will affect 1.3 million Americans immediately, 86,900 of them from Pennsylvania, which has the fourth-highest total of unemployed workers collecting the emergency long-term benefits.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2014/01/01/Unemployment-benefits-end-for-86-900-in-state/stories/201401010094#ixzz2pAS5blvw

Study: Pennsylvania Income Gap Grew During The Last Decade

Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania‘s richest citizens pulled away from the state’s poorest during the go-go 1990s, and that trend continued as the bottom began to drop out of the economy, a new study concludes.

Between the late 1990s and early 2000s, the annual incomes of the richest fifth of state households grew by 7.2 percent, or $11,190, to $269,400 while the poorest fifth saw their average income fall nearly 8 percent, or $1,907, to $23,000.

Income inequality also grew between upper and middle-income families in the state. Middle-income families saw their earnings rise by just 1.9 percent between the late 1990s, compared to 7.2 percent for the richest fifth and 11.2 percent for the richest 5 percent of households, the study concluded.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-income-disparity-20121116,0,7043436.story