Butler County’s state reps. call proposed minimum wage hike unneeded, misguided
Butler County’s delegation to the Pennsylvania House is in total agreement: a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2029 is misguided.
All four local representatives — Aaron Bernstine, R-8th; Tim Bonner, R-17th; Marci Mustello, R-11th; and now-resigned Stephenie Scialabba, R-12th — voted no last month on House Bill 2189, which would incrementally raise the minimum wage in phases beginning in 2027.
Despite this, the bill narrowly passed in the House by a vote of 104-95 on March 24, and now sits waiting for the Republican-controlled Senate for consideration.
“Minimum wage is not designed to be a living wage,” Mustello said. “It is a baseline for entry-level and part-time workers who fulfill basic and nonskilled roles.”
She said that the minimum wage hike was unnecessary and potentially dangerous.
“The free market is the best arbiter of wages,” she continued.
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage currently sits at $7.25, at least a dollar lower than the minimum wage in all the states bordering it.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jason Dawkins, D-179th, proposes a gradual raise of Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $11 an hour starting in 2027, then $13 an hour in 2028, before hitting $15 an hour in 2029.
The bill also calls for annual cost-of-living increases to the minimum wage, according to the percentage change of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland area, which would take effect each year starting in 2030.
Bernstine said that the bill, as written, would do great harm to Pennsylvania’s economy if passed, and that a minimum wage hike might lead to a reduction in entry-level job opportunities.
“It would especially harm the opportunities for young people,” Bernstine said. “We know that if you go work at Sheetz or Giant Eagle, they’re hiring in that $13, $14 an hour range.
“But to make the minimum base that high is not something that I can ultimately support, because I think it would do damage to our economy and it would damage young people from earning entry-level jobs.”
Mustello called the potential possibly “detrimental” to the local economy.
“First, because it eliminates entry-level positions and forces workloads to be shared,” she said. “Additionally, outpricing labor in a competitive market can cause companies and jobs to move to other states with more realistic wages.
“California should be learning that hard lesson as we speak.”
The March 24 vote was split largely along party lines, with only four out of 98 House Republicans voting yes, and only two out of 102 House Democrats voting no.
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage was last raised in 2009. Previous attempts by the House to raise the minimum wage failed.
According to a report released by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, there are an estimated 42,900 workers in the commonwealth earning minimum wage, or less, as of 2025 — the lowest on record, and a drop of 4,300 from the previous year. The report stated that this was due to both a decrease in the number of hourly employees statewide and an increase in the average pay rate.
The report also estimated that 189,900 earned “near minimum wage” — between $7.26 and $12 an hour — as of 2025, accounting for 6.4% of all hourly employees. This number marked a steep decrease of 65,100 from 2024.
