The national debate over a minimum wage hike

• Ed Mahon
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  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Steven R. Groves / AP Photo

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., mixes margaritas while tending bar at a restaurant in the Queens borough of New York, Friday, May 31, 2019. She was back in her New York district tending bar as part of her push to raise the federal minimum wage, especially for workers who now depend on tips.

Pennsylvania didn’t vote on it

Steven R. Groves / AP Photo

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., mixes margaritas while tending bar at a restaurant in the Queens borough of New York, Friday, May 31, 2019. She was back in her New York district tending bar as part of her push to raise the federal minimum wage, especially for workers who now depend on tips.

• Efforts to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania came up short this budget season. The issue didn’t come up for a vote in the Republican-controlled House or Senate, and House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, told lawmakers not to mention it while discussing the state’s main spending bill.

• But at the national level, the Democratically-controlled U.S. House of Representatives could soon vote on gradually raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour. The Hill explained why some Democrats are concerned about cost of living differences across the country. And the measure likely wouldn’t go far while Republicans control the U.S. Senate.

• Meanwhile, a new study by the Congressional Budget Office looked at the impact of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, NPR’s Alina Selyukh reports. The study estimated that it would raise the pay of at least 17 million people who earn less than $15 an hour — and put 1.3 million other workers out of jobs.

Best of the rest

Marie Cusick / StateImpact Pennsylvania

Protesters blocked pipeline construction equipment on the property of The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, an order of Catholic nuns, in Lancaster County last year.

• Trespassing charges were dismissed against seven protesters who blocked construction of a natural gas pipeline in Lancaster County, Jon Hurdle reports for StateImpact Pennsylvania. The defendants agreed to an unspecified amount of community service.

• Without the public’s knowledge, some Pa. superintendents gained permission from law enforcement officials to carry guns in schools, WHYY’s Jen Kinney reports. “I will tell you, you probably don’t know who these individuals are, but they are carrying concealed weapons within the school districts because of our petition,” said an attorney whose firm represents school districts.

• Attorney General Josh Shapiro is distancing himself from a bill that gives his office new authority over gun-related cases in Philadelphia. “I didn’t seek this law and I didn’t advocate for it … And it doesn’t change anything,” he said, although WHYY’s Ryan Briggs reports that those comments were a surprise to some state lawmakers.