HARRISBURG, JUNE 5, 2006 – Speaking to hundreds of supporters packed into the Capitol Rotunda today, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione called for the Senate to vote on her minimum wage bill by the end of the month.

“As a citizen of this Commonwealth I am embarrassed that 21 other states have chosen to raise their minimum wage yet we keep our workers living in poverty,” she said. “As an elected official, I am embarrassed that the Senate of Pennsylvania will not even allow a vote on raising the minimum wage.”

     Although Tartaglione has been introducing her legislation for years, momentum has been building in the past year, first with a poll showing widespread public support, the Governor signing on, and finally overwhelming passage by the House of Representatives in April.

     “I’m confident that if we get a vote on it, it will pass,” Tartaglione said.

     Hundreds of supporters from across Pennsylvania crowded the steps and floor of the Rotunda today for a rally coinciding with the first meeting of the General Assembly since the Primary Election. Speakers included Lt. Gov. Catharine Baker Knoll and state Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman.

     Richman, who is in charge of the state’s effort to move Pennsylvanians from welfare to work, said the stagnant minimum wage keeps 20,000 Pennsylvania families in poverty and, by burdening social service systems, represents an added cost to Pennsylvania taxpayers.

     Signs in the crowd urged Republican leaders to allow, as they had promised, a vote in the minimum wage bill.

     Tartaglione is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 926, which would raise the minimum wage in two steps, bringing it to $7.15 by next year.