HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has announced a proposal to raise the overtime threshold in Pennsylvania.

Currently, salaried employees making more than $23,660 per year aren’t required to be paid overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week. Wolf’s proposal would raise that threshold to almost $48,000 a year in 2022.

“The change potentially would impact almost 500,000 residents of Pennsylvania,” Wolf spokesman J.J. Abbott said. “He feels strongly that it’s a great return on investment for businesses to pay their workers fairly.”

Some business groups are not happy about the changes, believing it could hurt local businesses and employees.

“It’s a great soundbite – ‘we’re going to raise the overtime rule,’ but at the end of the day, it’s going to cost the economy tens of millions of dollars and it’s going to affect tens of thousands of employees,” said Kevin Shivers, Executive State Director of the National Federation of Independent Business. “There is a tremendous amount of cost to small businesses, which ultimately will result in lower hiring.”

The proposal must be approved by a five-member agency board which has a 3-2 Democratic majority.