The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Pennsylvania House Bill 23 raises minimum wage to $15 by July 2026, eliminates sub-minimum wage for tipped workers, and expands coverage
Last action · October 10, 2025: Referred to LABOR AND INDUSTRY, Oct. 10, 2025Sponsors: Chris Rabb and 4 others
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Would Do
Pennsylvania House Bill 23 raises the state minimum wage to $15 per hour beginning July 1, 2026, with subsequent annual adjustments, abolishes the $2.83 sub-minimum wage for tipped employees, and extends minimum wage protections to agricultural workers, domestic workers, incarcerated workers, and contractors.
The measure directly alters pay scales, gratuity rules, and compliance obligations for employers across multiple industries while establishing civil recovery rights for workers underpaid or unlawfully stripped of tips.
- Pennsylvania's baseline minimum wage has remained aligned with the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour for over a decade, prompting repeated legislative and executive efforts to raise the wage floor. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Employees
Employees receive a higher wage floor of $15 by 2026, full retention of tips without fee deductions, and expanded legal protections across various previously excluded sectors.
Employers
Employers face higher labor cost requirements, must adjust payroll systems to eliminate tipped sub-minimum wages and tip credits, and must provide itemized statements on every payday.
Tipped employes
Tipped employees receive regular minimum wages without tip credit offsets and full pass-through of credit card gratuities without processing fee deductions.
Agricultural workers
Agricultural workers are brought under standard minimum wage protections following the repeal of previous exemptions.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What will the minimum wage be under the bill and when does it take effect?
How does the bill change rules regarding employee tips?
Which workers are newly covered by minimum wage protections?
What records must employers keep under this measure?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Oct 10, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to LABOR AND INDUSTRY, Oct. 10, 2025
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Elimination of Tipped Sub-Minimum Wage
The bill completely abolishes the long-standing $2.83 sub-minimum wage for tipped employees and forbids tip credits against standard minimum wages.
Repeal of Municipal Preemption
Section 5 repeals Section 14.1 of the prior act, removing statewide preemption over local labor ordinances.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.palegis.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance90How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy85Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz65Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools