House passes tiered minimum-wage bill after hours of debate; 102-101

Harrisburg — The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed House Bill 15‑49 on June 11, 2025, approving a tiered increase in the state minimum wage. The final roll call on the bill was 102 yeas and 101 nays, and the clerk will return the measure to the Senate for concurrence.

Supporters said the bill moves the commonwealth away from a $7.25 hourly floor that they called unsustainably low. Representative Brian Dawkins, majority chair of the Labor Committee, argued the bill was necessary to lift families out of poverty, saying, "Today, we confront the quiet violence of poverty wages." He and other sponsors framed the measure as incremental progress that could be improved in later rounds.

Opponents raised concerns about the bill's structure and economic impacts. Representative Grove, the minority chair of labor, warned the legislation would hurt tipped workers and small employers and cited peer‑reviewed studies that, he said, show wage hikes can reduce employment and tip income for restaurant staff. Representative Grove told colleagues the bill is "harmful for employees" and "harmful for the employers."

The measure uses county classifications to set different minimums in tiers and includes carve‑outs for specific counties; Representative Klunk questioned why Centre, Monroe and Pike counties were placed in different tiers, calling the patchwork "a compliance nightmare" for employers that operate across county lines. Supporters said the tiering was a compromise intended to balance urban and rural effects.

Speakers on both sides cited studies and estimates. Representative Barger referenced an Independent Fiscal Office estimate he said would translate to about 16,000 lost jobs under a $15 floor, while Representative Khan, a sponsor, said the bill would benefit roughly 1.1 million Pennsylvanians currently earning less than $15 an hour.

The debate included repeated exchanges about the job loss estimates, impacts on tipped workers and implementation details such as when the increases would phase in and whether cost‑of‑living adjustments (COLA) would be included. Several members asked — unsuccessfully on the floor — for the bill's sponsor to stand for interrogation on specific carve‑outs.

After the final vote the House recorded the bill as passed and sent it to the Senate for consideration.

The House debate on HB 15‑49 lasted most of the afternoon and into the evening, with more than two dozen members speaking for and against the measure.

Votes and next steps: The bill passed the House 102‑101 and will proceed to the Senate. Further implementation details — including effective dates for each county tier and any regulatory guidance from the Department of Labor and Industry — were not specified on the floor.