As a bill in Pennsylvania looks to possibly hike the state's minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2026, we decided to speak with some experts about the impact of such a change — and to ask, what is a livable wage in Butler County anyways.

Looking at numerous reports, we found four reports indicating that a livable wage in Butler County is more than double what it is now.

We reported in Sunday’s print edition of the Butler Eagle that, per the MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, the current livable wage for a single adult in Butler County is about $16.24 per hour.

The Economic Policy Institute’s 2022 Family Budget Calculator estimated a livable wage of $17.53 per hour in the county. Pathways PA’s 2019 report estimated $10.84, while United Way of Pennsylvania’s 2021 ALICE Report recommended $14.74.

We found that many businesses have already changed their wages to reflect more than a $7.25 per hour rate. Fast food and convenience stores across Butler County advertise rates of more than $10 per hour — noticeably on bright signage stuck into the ground along drive-thrus and outside of front entrances.

All signals point one direction: The minimum wage is too low.

In an earlier editorial, we noted, and today will note again, that $7.25 an hour, is dead last in the nation, in regards to minimum wage. The consequences to our workforce are too dire to stay at this rate.

The problem with bumping that number up is that, for some employers, such a change can’t happen overnight. Paul Weifenbaugh, assistant director of the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board, told us this in the Sunday article.

The solution, however, can’t be to sit forever at a the nation’s lowest minimum wage. (Let’s set records elsewhere, here in Pennsylvania.)

We’ve all seen the waste-of-time legislation that some political leaders will create to simply make a statement, but it would not make good sense to erratically raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour overnight. In that case, the consequences to businesses are too dire.

The legislation proposed now may be among the most realistic we’ve seen.

Legislation approved by the state House in June would would raise the minimum wage to $11 per hour next January, with annual increases to $15 per hour by January 2026.

This seems doable. It seems like the right way to bump Pennsylvania’s embarassingly low minimum wage to rate more in line with a livable rate, while giving businesses time to adjust.

— TL