The $ 15 minimum wage debate
With millions across the country asking for a $ 15 minimum wage, small business owners fear that their business will be harmed while workers on the minimum wage hope for better days ahead.
Is any increase better than no increase?
That may be the question that some Senate Democrats are asking themselves as they try to approve a $ 15 an hour minimum wage increase within the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package that seems to be next to impossible.
Democrats have made it clear that they want to raise the federal minimum wage to that number, but last week they suffered a near-fatal blow when the Senate congressman decided that the increase should not be included in the measure.
There also seems to be no serious hope that the Senate will remove the obstruction. Politico said on Monday that the party “could run the risk of not receiving anything unless it commits itself to the Republicans”.
Democrats have a 10-vote lead in the House and are tied for 50-50 in the Senate. Democrats sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona expressed opposition to the minimum wage increase in the relief bill, and other moderates also expressed concern.
For the Senate to approve the bill – with the salary increase included – it would be necessary for all Democrats and more than 10 Republicans to reach the 60-vote limit. The number is impossible with the addition of the minimum wage as it is currently written. But some Republicans seem ready to negotiate.
Senators Tom Cotton and Mitt Romney wrote on FoxNews.com on Monday that it is time for a minimum wage increase.
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But they wrote: “Many Democrats are stuck in a minor scheme to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour. Their plan has no votes to pass, and even if it were, a $ 15 minimum wage would destroy 1, 4 million jobs, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). “
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His bill, called the Higher Wages Act for American Workers, “would raise the federal minimum wage to $ 10 an hour and ensure that all earnings go to legal workers, not illegal immigrants.”
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Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, considered a moderate, told the Politician that she does not understand the “all-or-nothing approach”.
“Going from $ 7.25 to $ 10 an hour … it’s a substantial and long-awaited increase. So why do progressive people who [Sen.] Mandrel [Schumer] hear clearly opposes this? It looks like Chuck wants a problem, not a solution. “
The Associated Press contributed to this report