HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A new report showed raising Pennsylvania's minimum wage to $15 an hour would give workers an additional $6 billion and help the economy recover from the pandemic.

Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour this year, then an additional 50 cents an hour every year through 2027.

Claire Kovach, senior research analyst at Keystone Research Center and co-author of the report, said data from the Economic Policy Institute showed the increase would put the state on a path to creating a high-wage, high-productivity economy that helps all working Pennsylvanians.

"This proposal, if enacted in Pennsylvania, will lift many low-wage workers out of poverty and off of assistance programs, and even begin to reduce the racial pay disparities," Kovach contended.

Critics claim many low-wage workers are teenagers working for pocket change, but the report shows more than 80% are older workers, including many essential workers.

Kovach noted the proposal would have the biggest impact on those who have been most affected by the pandemic, including retail, health care and restaurant workers.

"Three industries that have been really, really slammed by COVID-19 as the economic effects rippled through the economy," Kovach asserted. "These are people who need this boost more than ever."

While two-thirds of the workers who would get increases are white, 40% of Black and Hispanic workers would get higher wages.

Kovach pointed out the initial increase to $12 an hour in July would raise wages for 1.4 million Pennsylvanians, and up to 1.6 million by 2027 when it reaches $15 an hour.

"These are folks earning up to 115% of the new $15 minimum wage and expect to see their pay increase as pay scales shift," Kovach explained.

She added the benefits would be accelerated if the Biden administration plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 gets through Congress.


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A Pennsylvania environmental justice group is voicing concerns about the blocked sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, citing its effect on the community and jobs if it ultimately goes through.

On Monday, Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration over the decision.

Matthew Mehalik, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Breathe Project, said Nippon's bid would not have benefited union workers or the community, as it did not include a long-term plan for helping the Mon Valley. He added Nippon said they would honor all collective bargaining agreements, but the union contract expires in 2026.

"If you look at the big picture, really what Nippon wants is the Big River Steel, brand new electric arc nonunion facilities in Arkansas that U.S. Steel spent over $4 billion over the past couple years purchasing and building up as a threat to deunionize U.S. Steel."

Mehalik noted Nippon Steel's $1 billion Mon Valley investment pledge lacked detail, only specifying a new hot strip mill at Irvin Works, one of the three components of the Mon Valley Works along the Monongahela River. For its part, Nippon Steel said it has committed to preserving jobs, the U.S. Steel name and branding, and the Pittsburgh headquarters.

Mehalik argued Nippon's investment plan lacks specifics on how it will address the long-term health issues caused by decades of pollution in the community. He pointed out U.S. Steel has faced more than $65 million in fines and settlement agreements since 2020 due to Clean Air Act violations, primarily stemming from its Mon Valley facilities.

"The ongoing pollution that's been present for a long time in the Mon Valley; our county is in the top 1% of counties nationwide for cancer risk from toxic air pollution," Mehalik outlined. "The asthma rate in the communities is more than double the state average and the national average."

Mehalik noted carbon-based steelmaking faces a major shift as the steel industry transitions to decarbonization. Automakers are already seeking carbon-free steel, a growing market driving innovation in steel production. However, the Nippon deal includes no commitments to decarbonization and instead appears to reinforce fossil fuel-based steelmaking.


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Some New York hospitals are not adequately staffing nurses, according to a new report.

The New York State Nurses Association report showed between January and October 2024, hospitals failed to staff intensive care units and critical care patients at the state-mandated ratio more than 50% of the time. The report also said most hospitals do not publicly post staffing ratios as state law requires.

Margret Franks, a registered nurse at Vassar Hospital in Poughkeepsie, said it greatly affects patient care.

"We were regularly coming into a shift where we had eight patients when we were only supposed to have five, with one nurse at six on a 36-bed unit," Franks outlined. "Eight patients means out of every hour that you're there you can only give seven and a half minutes worth of care to that patient in your shift."

She argued it is impossible to provide good patient care and do everything a nurse has to in a given shift. While one recommendation is hiring more and retaining nurses, it is not so simple. Reports have shown labor expenses at New York hospitals grew 36% since 2019. While 2024 is the second year they declined, it is still double what they were in 2019.

Other report recommendations included the Department of Health increasing transparency so people see a hospital's actual staffing levels, enforcing safe staffing levels and expanding nurse recruitment and retention.

Franks stressed the issues outlined in the report exist beyond her workplace.

"This is not a problem that's exclusive to the Hudson Valley where I work," Franks pointed out. "It's not a problem that's even exclusive to New York State, it's nationwide. The reason for this is because you have these corporations coming in, taking over health care systems, and they're all using the same playbook."

Many studies have shown the ongoing nursing shortage is only set to continue due to many factors. Chief among them is the high stress nurses face in their work. Franks feels the shortage is not about people not wanting to enter the profession. Instead, she said it is about nurses wanting better work environments.

"Each facility has to create the kind of work environment somebody would want to willingly go into and work," Franks asserted. "It's not that the nurses who are not at the bedside right now don't want to work, it's just that they don't want to work in the situations that have been created by the facilities."


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In January, low-wage workers in Tennessee will be missing out on pay hikes seen in 23 other states.

In the new year, the minimum wage will reach or exceed $15 an hour for some or all employees in eight states and 47 cities and counties.

Jeff Strand, director of public policy for the Tennessee Disability Coalition, said the state's current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is simply too low, especially for people with disabilities. He pointed to research showing it costs more to live with a disability in Tennessee, making a higher wage even more crucial.

"Nationwide, it cost 27% more income to achieve a same standard of living as someone without a disability, if you have a disability," Strand explained. "In Tennessee, that number is 51% more income to achieve that same standard of living. That low level of wages and income has a much bigger effect on people with disabilities."

In 14 states and 39 cities and counties, the minimum wage will rise in 2025 due to cost-of-living adjustments, according to the National Employment Law Project.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently proposed a rule to eliminate even lower subminimum wages for workers with disabilities. Strand emphasized Tennessee has already abolished the subminimum wage, and he advocates for other states to follow suit.

"We were actually able to ban subminimum wage for people with disabilities," Strand pointed out. "Prior to that piece of legislation, there would be these places -- we'd consider them, like, sheltered workshops -- where just people with disabilities were doing rote, repetitive tasks all day and getting paid, you know, a buck-25 ($1.25) or something like that."

The Labor Department is inviting public feedback on the proposed rule until Jan. 17 to be considered in the rulemaking process.


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