Those part-time jobs this summer could start contributing a little more to fall's tuition if a bill passed Wednesday finds its way to the governor's desk.

The bill passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives calls to increase the minimum wage by $2 within the next 15 months, Rep. Camille George, D-Clearfield, said.

The legislation, which has been sent to the state Senate for voting, called for the current $5.15 wage to be raised to $6.25 by July 2006. A year later, the wage would be raised to $7.15 an hour.

"This is for the young people, the old people, those with a fixed income," George said.

One of the many reasons George said he has been a supporter of the bill since its introduction in February 2005 is because of the hikes in gas prices.

"Every time you blink, the prices go up again," he said. "If people are driving 20 miles to a gas station, they're spending an hour's worth of wages simply to get gas."

Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, said he voted against the bill because the time wasn't right and the hike was too drastic.

"What we need to do is resolve our problems with the economic environment before adjusting the wages," he said. "We should put more attention into attracting businesses."

A statement released by Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Centre, compared the minimum wage increases in New York and New Jersey and their effects on manufacturing jobs to Pennsylvania and its possible wage increase.

"They didn't experience a mass exodus of employers," he said. "Minimum wage employees working full time to support their families deserve a living wage."

However, Benninghoff said he did not believe New York and New Jersey were having the economic difficulties Pennsylvania is currently experiencing.

"When several tax bills are vetoed by this administration, combined with this increase in wages, we're telling businesses that Pennsylvania is not a good place to do business," he said.

State College Borough Council member Elizabeth Goreham said this bill is long overdue.

"What we want to maintain are the businesses which are willing to provide a living wage to their employees," she said.

Goreham added that she believes people should be able to work a 40-hour week and earn a livable income.

"Creating a living wage is important to retaining the talent in State College," she said.

George said the most important result of the bill will be the growth of economic strength.

"These people who are against the bill, they'll get their money back," he said. "These people [on minimum wage] aren't going to be putting their money in the bank. They're going to be spending it. That's the way the economy works."

Although Gov. Ed Rendell said he wanted a change to the bill, he added in a statement released Wednesday that minimum wage discussions are overdue.

"Though I believe a cost-of-living adjustment is an important element of this discussion, it has been eight years since we have raised the minimum wage in this nation," he said in the statement.

State Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, said he hopes the Labor and Industry Committee turns the bill over to the Senate in the near future to begin deliberation.

"I would like a bit of a compromise on the bill taking care of small business in Pennsylvania," he said. "If that happens, there's a very good chance that this bill will pass through the Senate."