Governor Ed Rendell has joined those in favor of increasing the minimum wage in Pennsylvania. Governor Rendell has proposed increasing minimum wage to $6.25 an hour in January of 2006 and to $7.15 an hour in January of 2007. According to Governor Rendell, as the cost of basic necessities increase, citizens are forced to choose between necessities to survive.

One concern raised about the minimum wage increase is the effect it would have on small businesses. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute following the last federally mandated increase on September 1^{st, 1997, the low wage labor market actually worked better than it had in decades.}