HARRISBURG, OCTOBER 18, 2005 – Using the momentum of growing public sentiment and high-level support, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione along with Gov. Ed Rendell and community advocates of a fair minimum wage, rallied in Harrisburg today.

     “We’ve discussed, debated and rallied for a raise in the minimum wage for six years,” Tartaglione said. “It’s time to get the job done.”

     Public support for restoring the value of the minimum wage is overwhelming, Tartaglione said. And Pennsylvania’s governor, who once resisted the idea, is now providing a strong voice on behalf of working families.

     Tartaglione has introduced new legislation, Senate Bill 926, that provides for a two-step increase in the minimum wage, plus cost of living adjustments.

     “With the governor’s help, we have taken a bold step to make Pennsylvania a leader in the fair and equitable treatment of our workers,” Tartaglione said.

     Supporters of a fair minimum wage chided the state’s business leaders for using fact-twisting, gloom-and-doom predictions to cloud the debate over fair wages.

     Tartaglione urged lawmakers to look at what has occurred when minimum wages have been raised, rather than depend on prognosticators who have been proven wrong in the past.

     “Our business leaders should concentrate less of their energy on keeping poor workers poor and put more energy and resources into moving Pennsylvania forward as leaders in business and worker relations,” she said.

     The Capitol rally gathered supporters from community, religious and labor groups who crowded to steps of the Rotunda for the event.  In the most recent poll, 85 percent of Pennsylvanians support an increase in the minimum wage.

     For more on the minimum wage effort, and supporting documentation, visit www.pasenate.com/tartaglione