President Joe Biden and a large majority of Democrats in Congress say they can pass a bill to raise the hourly minimum wage to $ 15 an hour or more by March, with or without any Republican support.
Biden and leading Democratic lawmakers have rekindled the drive to raise the federal minimum wage for the first time in 12 years, promoting legislation that aims to lift 28 million full-time workers out of poverty by 2024.
Biden said on Friday that he will not accept any “if, and after” from Republicans who are dragging their feet in approving the next stimulus package. The new chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Bernie Sanders, said he is prepared to jam a $ 15 minimum wage measure with the current majority of 51 Democratic votes as soon as possible. Citing approval of 23 state minimum wage increases since 1998, majority leader Chuck Schumer said that approval of a COVID-19 relief bill that includes a $ 15 per hour increase could be made in March . The United States’ poverty rate peaked since 1960, in late 2020, according to recent economic studies.
Biden is simultaneously supporting $ 1,400 and $ 130 billion stimulus checks to assist in the safe reopening of public schools across the country as part of the next stimulus package. Some progressive Democrats say they would be responsible for a minimum wage increase of more than $ 15 an hour, citing studies that show that there are only a handful of states where working 40 hours at $ 15 allows for a one-bedroom apartment.
“With the economic division, I mean, I want a minimum wage of $ 15. In fact, it should be $ 20,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan, according to an Associated Press article published on Saturday.
Democrats cited a study by the Institute for Economic Policy that found that one in nine American workers receives salaries that keep them in poverty, despite working full-time. Congressional Budget Office research suggests that 27 million Americans could be lifted out of poverty with a $ 15 wage increase, but 1.3 million workers could lose their jobs because companies would reduce their workforce to pay workers fees higher – something Republicans have dubbed not going through pandemic job losses.
Moderate Republicans, including Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Congressman Tom Reed of New York, agree to the minimum wage increase, but expressed concerns to the AP about the inclusion of this legislation in the next COVID-19 relief bill.
“The more you throw into this bucket of relief from COVID that is not really related to the crisis, the more you risk the credibility of the American people that you are really sincere about the crisis,” Reed told the AP. Murkowski agreed and said that linking the $ 15 an hour wage increase to the pandemic relief bill “politically complicates an initiative for which we must all work together”.
The House last week reintroduced the Salary Increase Act, which passed in 2019 before dying in the Senate under then-Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell. But now, encouraged by majorities in the House and Senate, Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Schumer, cite studies that say raising the minimum wage will put 27 million workers above the poverty line.
The current federal minimum wage requirement of $ 7.25 was instituted in 2009 and marks the last time it was lifted. The federal minimum wage has not kept pace with rising inflation and prices for goods and services across the country, representing about 17% less than in 2009.
In May 2007, former Republican President George W. Bush signed the law that increased the minimum wage at the time from $ 5.15 to $ 7.25 over the next two years. The legislation received support from all Democratic members of the House, as well as 82 Republicans. The $ 7.25 hourly wage means that an individual is earning less than $ 15,000 a year.
For years, Democrats have proposed increases in the minimum wage, but such efforts have failed at the federal level due to opposition from the Republican Party. Biden’s nominations of cabinet leaders backed by labor unions, including Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and House and Ways Committee commercial lawyer Katherine Tai, have generated optimism across the board. The current minimum wage increases supported by the Chamber also seek to phase out indirect wages by 2027.
“Nobody in America should work 40 hours a week earning below the poverty line. Fifteen dollars puts people above the poverty line,” said Biden at the White House last week.
Newsweek contacted the White House and Tlaib’s office for further comment on Saturday morning.
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