HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Governor Tom Wolf wants to up the paychecks of minimum wage workers.
Right now, the minimum wage in Pennsylvania is $7.25 an hour. Governor Wolf wants to nearly double it.
Minimum wage hasn't gone up since 2009. Wolf wants it to be $15 an hour by 2027.
It would start by raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour this summer.
The plan that needs approval from the legislature would be to raise the rate of 50 cents every summer until 2025.
After that, it would go up according to inflation.
Wolf believes it would boost workers and help get people off public assistance.
He said, "Let me be blunt, if in our economy you need public assistance, through federal or state assistance, because your full-time job doesn't pay you enough to meet the basic quality of life needs, then we don't have a free market. We have a failing market."
This is the fifth time in as many years that the governor has proposed a minimum wage increase. It's been rejected by lawmakers each time.
Governor Wolf is set to present his budget for next year early next week in Harrisburg.
