HB1500 proposes a new minimum wage schedule, setting rates as follows: $11.00/hour on January 1, 2024; $13.00/hour on January 1, 2025; and $15.00/hour on January 1, 2026. From January 1, 2027, onwards, the minimum wage would adjust annually based on the CPI-U for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland area, rounded to the nearest 5 cents.
The Pennsylvania State House of Representatives passed HB1500 on June 20, 2023 by a vote of 103 to 100. We have assigned pluses to the nays because setting a minimum wage goes beyond the government’s constitutional role. Minimum wages distort the free market and interfere with the principles of supply and demand in a free-market capitalist country.