Higher wages, sick pay now attached to state’s incentives
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In a stalemate with lawmakers over raising the minimum wage or requiring companies to have paid sick leave, Gov. Tom Wolf will impose those requirements on companies getting financial incentives from the state. Wolf signed an executive order requiring companies receiving incentives to pay at least $13.50 an hour, rising to $15 an hour in 2024. State contractors already must pay that amount, under a prior executive order Wolf signed in 2016. The sick pay requirement has no required time frame attached to it. The state annually budgets for tens of millions of dollars in grants, loans and tax breaks for companies that make certain promises to expand in Pennsylvania.