It’s been a bit since Democrats controlled one of the state Legislature’s two chambers, so it’s understandable they are pushing hard on big issues this year.

But some discussions require some nuance — and the minimum wage is one.

Democrats bulled a $15 an hour minimum wage through the state House of Representatives recently. It’s a wage increase that stands little chance of making it through the state Senate, so it was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. What’s worse, basing minimum wage debates on the bigger population areas ends up hurting rural employers where the cost of living isn’t as expensive.

On this front Pennsylvania’s Democrats could learn from a compromise reached nearly a decade ago in New York, where rural state senators fought for — and won — a tiered minimum wage that worked for most workers and businesses. It made little sense for a largely rural area with a cheaper standard of living like Jamestown to have the same minimum wage as New York City, whose elected officials largely drive minimum wage talks.

If House Democrats want to engage Senate Republicans, the tiered minimum wage could be a significant olive branch.

Republicans, meanwhile, are quick to acknowledge the state’s $7.25 minimum wage isn’t the state’s real minimum wage. There are 6,117,100 jobs in Pennsylvania as of April, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry. Roughly 1% — a little less than 64,000 workers — make less than the state’s $7.25 minimum wage and nearly 75% of those include tipped workers. Another 6.8% make between $7.25 and $12 an hour. Another 8.3% — roughly 510,000 — earn between $12 and $15 an hour. Republicans are right. There aren’t many minimum wage jobs in Pennsylvania. So setting a new floor shouldn’t be such a big deal when the state’s real minimum wage is closer to between $9 and $12 an hour than it is $7.25 an hour.

If Democrats and Republicans want to have a real discussion of the minimum wage, they should get beyond posturing. In our opinion, a tiered minimum wage makes a lot of sense for both workers in big cities and employers in smaller counties.