As the Pennsylvania State Legislature begins a new two-year term, there are two potential bills that deserve bi-partisan support because both have the potential to increase state revenue and because it is the right thing to do.
The first would be to pass legislation that would increase the minimum wage for hourly workers in Pennsylvania. This would mean a lot to minimum wage workers trying to deal with recent inflated prices.
Earlier in my life, I worked as a newspaper carrier at age 12, delivering over 200 newspapers in the early morning hours, six days a week for $12 a month. At age 13, on hot summer afternoons, I loaded bales of hay and straw on a horse farm for 60 cents an hour. In the fall, I raked leaves after school until dark for 50 cents an hour. I also worked at a grocery store at age 16 for 70 cents an hour. And at age 19, I worked in a factory for $1 an hour until the minimum wage was raised to $1.10 an hour. I know how much an increase in the minimum wage would mean to low-income workers today.
Just do it!
The second bill would be potential legislation to legalize a graduated-income tax in Pennsylvania that would tax constituents according to their financial ability to pay. Yes, the wealthy would have to pay more in taxes, and low-income and working class workers would pay less in taxes. What’s wrong with that? This legislation would also increase state revenue.
Thanks to a guaranteed annual COLA, Pennsylvania’s legislators now have a six-figure annual salary. I’m sure that the minimum-wage workers would appreciate an increase in the $7.25 an hour minimum wage. A higher minimum wage and a graduated-income tax would both increase state revenue.
David L. Faust,
Selinsgrove