HARRISBURG, Pa. - A minimum wage increase could be coming in Pennsylvania and an Erie County lawmaker is leading the effort.

State Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-Millcreek Twp.) announced Thursday he will introduce legislation this week that would raise the commonwealth’s minimum wage to $10 per hour. If approved, the increase is expected to take effect this year.

Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has remained at $7.25 since 2009.

Laughlin wants to tie increase to the annual rate of inflation, which would allow the wage to automatically adjust over time.

“That has been the problem with all of the other minimum wage increases, in that it sits for a decade and then there’s a big jump and employers don’t like that either,” Laughlin told Erie News Now from his Harrisburg office Thursday afternoon. “So, I think this is actually a worker and business friendly bill.”

In February, Gov. Tom Wolf renewed his push to raise the minimum wage to $12-per-hour, with gradual increases up to $15 by 2027.  Laughlin suggests his bill is a good compromise with Wolf’s proposal and what the Republican-controlled General Assembly, which typically opposes larger minimum wage hikes, is expected to support.

Laughlin, a second-term Republican whose 49th District covers most of Erie County, said the formal legislation is expected to be introduced today or Friday.

Provisions to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour were removed in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package known as the American Rescue Plan. The federal minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour.

Note: Author reported from Washington, D.C.