DIGNITY AGENDA
ECONOMIC FAIRNESS
We are in Last Place
We have the lowest minimum wage in the nation at $7.25. New York State is $15.00, and New Jersey is $15.13. For far too long, PA has been in last place. The hardworking people of Pennsylvania deserve a raise. It is time to lift people out of poverty.
From Hopelessness to a Renewed Sense of Dignity
Mrs. Alfreda Parker is a longtime Mt. Airy resident. Alfreda and her husband worked to make a comfortable life for themselves. In 2019, Alfreda’s life changed when she lost her husband. Her life was upended further by the COVID-19 Pandemic, when she lost her. As Alfreda described it, “Being out of work for quite some time, the situation had begun to feel sort of hopeless. I had to decide which bills will get paid, which ones won’t, and figure out how I am going to eat.”
Mrs. Parker reluctantly traveled through the heavy rain to attend our first Raise Your Pay Community Meeting. My office followed up with her shortly after the community meeting. Within a few weeks, Mrs. Parker secured a job with a local hospital. This job will double her income and allow her to live with a greater sense of dignity.
Raise Your Pay & improve your quality of life!
Thus far our Raise Your Pay Initiative has recruited eight individuals, with seven additional neighbors expressing interest in joining the program. Participants come from varied backgrounds – working mothers, immigrants, returning citizens – and each person is committed to achieving higher paid work for themselves and their families.
Fair Taxes for PA
My Tax Justice legislation would establish a Fair Share Tax Plan which will:
- Enact fair tax rates on Pennsylvania’s top wealth earners.
- Lower taxes of employee wages.
Over 80% of Pennsylvanians would see lower or no changes to their taxes.
It’s time for Economic Fairness for PA!
Together we can build Economic Fairness that combats the extreme economic inequality.
Become an Economic Fairness and Wage Advocate!
Haywood Working for ECONOMIC FAIRNESS
Senator Haywood CLEAR Coalition Remarks on Raising the Wage
Senator Haywood and Community Sponsors Host Raise the Wage Rally at McDonald’s to Advocate for Minimum Wage Increase
PHILADELPHIA – January 22, 2019 – On Martin Luther King Day, State Senator Art Haywood (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia) joined community sponsors POWER, the Unitarian Society of Germantown, Raise the Wage PA!, activists, and advocates for a Raise the Wage Rally. To...
Sen. Haywood Hosts Raise the Wage Rally on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Haywood Calls for Raising the Minimum Wage
Stacy M. Brown | Tribune Harrisburg Correspondent
Raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania would go a long way in the fight against poverty, particularly in Philadelphia where the poverty rate is the highest of any big city in the United States, state Sen. Art Haywood said Tuesday during a news conference at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg.
Raising minimum wage will cut poverty
By Senator Art Haywood | The Philadelphia Tribune
I read the “Broke in Philly” feature in the Sunday Philadelphia Tribune. I agree that fair funding of Philadelphia schools is a priority for lawmakers. We are aware that about 275,000 adults in Philadelphia have incomes below the poverty level. About 136,000 hardworking Philadelphians work in poverty-pay jobs earning less than $10.10 per hour, according to the Keystone Research Center.