1.      June 5 rally -- Mark your calendar and spend the day in Harrisburg. On Monday, June 5 you can join hundreds of concerned Pennsylvanians who will converge on the Capitol to rally in support of an increase in the Commonwealth’s minimum wage. Free buses will be leaving from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown. The rally kicks off at 1:30 P.M. at the Rotunda. Earlier in the day, small groups will be visiting legislators in their Capitol offices. No experience needed -- just a passion for justice.

Departure locations and times:

Philadelphia -- JFK Boulevard between 15^th and 16^th Streets at 8:30 AM. To reserve your seat, call the Raise the Minimum Wage Coalition at 215-557-0822.

Allentown -- First Presbyterian Church, corner of Tilghman Street and Cedar Crest Boulevard at 8:00 AM. To reserve your seat, call Chris Nine at Second Harvest Food Bank, 610-434-0875, or email him at cnine@caclv.org.

Pittsburgh -- Departure location not yet determined, but rides will leave at approximately 7:30 AM. To reserve your seat and get trip details, contact Paul at the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, 412-462-9962 (if you get the tape, leave a message), or email the group at mvuc@msn.com.

2.      Write, email, or make a phone call today -- Contact your Pennsylvania state senator and deliver the message that the senate must act now to pass a minimum wage bill, increasing wages to $7.15 per hour. Click here to find out who represents you in the state senate.

Minimum wage details: On April 5, the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to increase the minimum wage. That increase would boost wages to $6.25 on July 1, 2006 and $7.15 on July 1, 2007. The legislation then was sent to the Pennsylvania Senate where it has been sitting in the Labor and Industry Committee. Senate leadership has refused to move the minimum wage bill out of committee and onto the floor where it could be placed on the agenda for a vote.

Consider the facts --

·     Twenty-one states, including New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and New York have raised their minimum wage.

·     The current minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 per hour for nine years.

·      An analysis completed by the Keystone Research Center reveals that over 70 percent of Pennsylvania workers who would benefit from an increase to $7.15 per hour are adults, age 20 and over. That’s more than 300,000 of our neighbors -- moms and dads working hard to support their families.

·      At the current minimum wage, a full-time worker with one child does not even earn enough to lift her family out of poverty.

·      A recent national study published by the Fiscal Policy Institute demonstrates that the number of small businesses grew twice as quickly in states with a higher minimum wage.

·      Low-wage workers who earn a few dollars more each week because of an increase in the minimum wage will spend that money on necessities -- and they will spend it locally, supporting businesses close to home.

PathWaysPA has prepared a letter that you can download, print, sign, and send to your state senator. Feel free to add a few of your own words next to your signature. The names on this list of key senators are high priority -- they are moderates who can influence leadership to call for a vote.

Now recognized as a critical tool in assessing wage adequacy in the Commonwealth, The Standard offers a sophisticated scale that encompasses a full range of costs and family configurations. This is not a one-size-fits-all tool.

The full report, which will be posted at www.pathwayspa.org, includes tables for 70 family types (varying by the number of adults, number of children, age of children, etc.) for each of the state’s 67 counties. The printed report, which will be available in early June, includes tables for 8 family types in each of those counties. Those tables identify 7 major expense categories and include 3 tax credits that help offset costs.

Here’s an excerpt from the Executive Summary of the forthcoming Standard:

In all of Pennsylvania’s counties, the self-sufficiency wage for a single parent

with one infant or preschooler is at least twice the current minimum wage of

$5.15 per hour….When combined, child care and housing costs account for

the largest portion of family budgets.

PathWaysPA will debut the 2006 Standard at events in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Watch for details, coming to you soon through an e-alert.

The self-sufficiency wage levels identified by The Standard are built into PathWaysPA’s Online Budget Worksheet, also available at www.pathwayspa.org. Service providers can use the Budget Worksheet with clients to help them take the following steps toward building self-sufficiency:

1.      Assess present financial status;

2.      Determine preliminary eligibility for work supports (food stamps, child care subsidies, EITC, Medical Assistance, CHIP, etc.);

3.      Link to COMPASS, Pennsylvania’s online benefits gateway, to initiate the application process;

4.      Develop a realistic family spending and savings plan; and

5.      Begin to identify a pathway toward self-sufficiency through education and training.

For further information on The Standard or to request printed copies, contact Jacquie Patterson, Director, Self-Sufficiency Project, at 610-543-5022 ext. 211, or via email at jpatterson@pathwayspa.org.

The federal EITC is an essential work support that lifts 4 million people out of poverty each year. It is available only to working households, and for the 2006 tax year, the maximum credit is $4,520 for families with two or more children and $2,737 for families with one child.

Nineteen states have enacted EITCs of their own, and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives held a hearing in late March to gather testimony on the merits of implementing such a credit in the Commonwealth. Several bills are circulating, including one introduced by Rep. Dwight Evans.

As Rep. Evans says,

[HB 1997] is not just about helping working families build assets and

leave poverty behind, it is also about stimulating the economy throughout

Pennsylvania…studies have shown that those who receive this benefit use

their refund to invest in their education, pay down debt, and buy durable

goods. I look forward to working to make this legislation a reality and giving

working families the help they deserve.

The Finance Committee of the House is expected to issue a report, summarizing hearing testimony.

For a cogent argument in support of a state EITC, read the testimony presented by Nicholas Johnson from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Senate Bill 884 would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to impose a strict ceiling on the state budget, thereby capping spending regardless of need. Many of the services funded through state allocations are mandated -- required by law -- and as such, local governments will have to find alternative revenue sources. In other instances, services simply will be cut or eliminated. Either way, Pennsylvania residents will suffer, just as those in Colorado have.

After ten years of spending squeezes, Colorado voters approved a ballot referendum to lift TABOR caps. Even the governor of that state, who once championed spending caps, urged voters to support the referendum.

Here in Pennsylvania, we still have a chance to stop the caps before they are enacted. Four bills are pending in the legislature, each having reached a different stage in the discussion and approval process. The issue is bound to arise again now that the primary election is behind us, and given the outcome of key races, TABOR supporters will be emboldened, thereby moving to fast-track these bills.

Regardless of the bill number or its status, the message is clear and simple -- spending caps are wrong and will inflict painful cuts in essential services. Say no to caps and no to a constitutional amendment that would make them possible.

Economic changes since 2000 have been particularly hard on Pennsylvania’s working families. Learn how innovations in policy, training, and management already are pointing the Commonwealth toward opportunity and an economy that works for all.

Featured speakers include New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, Pennsylvania Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development Sandi Vito, Economic Policy Institute researcher and advocate Michael Ettlinger, and AFSCME childcare-worker organizer Denise Dowell.

Read more about the Keystone Research Center's conference or register here.