PA Senator Katie Muth Calls For State Minimum Wage Raise

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — A state lawmaker from Montgomery County last week joined colleagues to call for a raise in Pennsylvania’s minimum wage.

State Senator Katie Muth, a Democrat representing Pennsylvania’s 44th Senatorial District, joined fellow senators, as well as members of the state House of Representatives, in calling for raising what she termed Pennsylvania’s “shameful poverty rate of $7.25 an hour.”

“Income inequality is preventable and those with the majority power in Harrisburg have been holding hardworking Pennsylvanians hostage with their inaction,” Muth said in a newsletter sent to constituents. “It’s time to raise the wage in Pennsylvania!”

According to Muth’s office, an estimated 693,110 Pennsylvania workers were earning the minimum wage in 2010, and Muth noted that it costs $59,340 for a family of four to afford basic needs.

Muth challenged those state legislators who oppose boosting the minimum wage to try to exist on that amount of income, which would translate to an annual salary of $15,000 after taxes.

“This is a basic issue of fairness,” Muth, who said she once earned just $5.15 per hour when that was the state's minimum wage, said during the July 9 news conference with fellow colleagues from both legislative chambers.

Video of the press event was posted on Muth’s website and can be viewed here.

At the event, Muth said one third of all Americans don’t have enough money in the bank to cover a $400 household emergency, a staggering figure that should raise attention to the minimum wage issue.

“Today the United States is number one in billionaires. It’s number one in profits and corporate salaries,” Muth said during the event. “But we are number one in childhood poverty and wealth inequality in the industrialized world.”

Muth said that nearly half of America works low-wage jobs, proving the need for a pay boost given that so many individuals work in a minimum wage environment.

Muth’s district covers communities in Montgomery, Chester and Berks Counties.