The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed legislation June 30 that would increase the state’s… The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed legislation June 30 that would increase the state’s minimum wage to $7.15 an hour.

The House voted 161-to-37 and the Senate voted 38-to-11 to gradually increase the minimum wage. The wage will increase for businesses with less than 10 employees to $6.25 on Jan. 1, 2007, then to $6.65 on July 1, 2007, and to the full $7.15 on July 1, 2008. Larger businesses will see the full increase on July 1, 2007.

The current minimum wage is $5.15 an hour.

State Senator Jay Costa, D-43, a co-sponsor of the bill, said that the gradual increase represents compromises with Republicans who were concerned about the wages’ impact on small businesses.

“I think it is going to be an improvement in the quality of living for these employees,” Costa said. He also said that the state needed to raise the wage, since many people were working below the poverty line in Pennsylvania.

State Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Allegheny, said he had long supported a boost to the minimum wage, and that the persistence of House Democrats helped in the final passage of the bill.

“A minimum-wage hike is long overdue for wage-earners – it hasn’t gone up in nine years,” DeLuca said in a press release. “By passing this legislation, we are helping over 500,000 Pennsylvania workers who are living on the minimum wage.”

Members of the Republican leadership in the House and Senate could not be reached for comment as of press time.