The minimum wage is likely to cause more drama behind closed doors on Wednesday, with Republicans arguing that such a radical change in policy is not accepted by the budget restrictions that guide the approval of Biden’s pandemic plan. But Democrats are confident they have a strong case, fueled by recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.
“We have tens of millions of workers working for hunger wages,” Senate budget president Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Told reporters on Tuesday.
“It is an absolute national disgrace,” he said. “$ 15 an hour is not a radical idea. Several states have moved in that direction. Over 60 percent of the American people think this is where we should be going and that is what I want to do. “
The shuttle with the parliamentarian, scheduled for 10 am, is part of the reconciliation process, which Democrats are using to approve Biden’s huge bill with a 51-vote majority in the Senate divided equally in the Senate, avoiding the need for negotiations. with the GOP.
To survive under budget rules, each part of Covid’s aid bill must clean up what is known as the Byrd Rule, producing a significant effect on federal spending, revenues and debt within a decade, in addition to meeting a litany of other requirements.
All eyes are on Elizabeth MacDonough, the first woman to occupy the Senate’s non-partisan parliamentary position. MacDonough was first appointed to the post in 2012 by then-majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
MacDonough will dissect the budgetary impact of each part of Biden’s bill, in addition to considering a number of other esoteric related issues. This includes rules that limit the cost of any provision outside a 10-year window, and much more obscure subjective restrictions that prevent policies from overcoming their budgetary effects.
Democrats can ultimately override the congressman on any issue, but that is unlikely to happen, given that Biden leans heavily against the idea, POLITICO said earlier this month.
While waiting for the parliamentarian’s opinion, Democrats reflected on a number of options to ensure that the minimum wage survived bureaucracy, such as limiting the increase to less than $ 15 an hour and including a package of tax cuts for small businesses to reinforce your budget print.
Reducing the general wage increase could satisfy centrists like Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.), who opposes the $ 15 value and instead pushed for a $ 11 increase.
Below both proposals is a new GOP Sens plan. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Who would increase the hourly wage to $ 10 by 2025, while preventing undocumented immigrants from receiving the incentive.
“We are trying to reach as broad a coalition of senators from both parties as possible,” Cotton said on Tuesday. “In many states, it’s still at $ 7.25. $ 10 seems like a reasonable salary in many states with lower labor costs.”
Health insurance subsidies for dismissed workers face one of the most difficult and subjective Byrd tests – if the effects on the federal budget are “merely incidental” to the policy being made.
“I think they will be in the final package,” said Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) Chairman of the Finance Committee on health subsidies on Monday. “It will help people who are suffering from health costs.”
Some outside experts also agree with Wyden.
“Federal assistance to help people buy insurance is money,” said Stan Dorn, director of the National Center for Coverage Innovation at Families USA. “It is not ‘incidental’ – it is the heart of the proposal.”
Alice Miranda Ollstein and Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.