Arizona Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema voted against raising the minimum wage to $ 15 on Friday. However, a tweet that recently resurfaced in 2014 calls the salary increase a “no-brainer”.
Sinema was one of seven Democrats who voted against an amendment introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) That would add the $ 15 minimum wage increase back to the coronavirus relief package. The provision, approved by the House, was removed from the package after the Senate congressman decided that it did not meet the requirements of the budgetary reconciliation process.
Representative Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) Reshared a 2014 tweet, when Sinema was one of Arizona’s representatives, calling for an increase in the minimum wage.
“Anyone who earns a full-time minimum wage earns less than $ 16,000 a year. This is a no-brainer. Tell Congress to #RaiseTheWage! “Sinema wrote at the time, including a link to a petition launched by five representatives – Sinema, Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), Carolyn Maloney (DN.Y.), Sean Patrick Maloney (DN.Y.), Brad Schneider (D -Ill.) – and two then candidates, Sean Eldridge, from New York, and Al McAffrey, from Oklahoma. The petition, however, does not set a target for the minimum wage.
Pocan added “Wow.” for the retweet.
Pocan’s retweet has gone viral with more than 2,100 retweets and 13,000 likes to date.
Newsweek contacted Sinema for comment.
In a statement on Friday, Sinema suggested that she would not be adverse to voting for a minimum wage increase, but that the Senate should “conduct an open debate and amendment process on the minimum wage increase, separate from the bill. reconciliation focused on COVID “. She previously told Politico last month that the provision “is not appropriate for the reconciliation process”.
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Although President Joe Biden initially included a clause to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour in his American Rescue Plan, the move proved to be controversial within the Democratic Party’s more moderate wing.
The provision was removed after Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough decided that it did not meet the requirements of the budget reconciliation process. Budget reconciliation allows a bill to be passed by a simple majority, blocking a potential obstructor. In return, according to Byrd’s Rule, “strange” measures unrelated to the budget cannot be included in this process.
The parliamentarian is a non-partisan advisory position, and the parliamentarian’s decisions may be overturned by the vice president. Although there were no immediate consequences for the annulment of the parliamentarian, this could set a precedent for future legislation.
Senator Joe Manchin (DW.V.) recently defended the MP’s decision.
“My only vote is to protect the Byrd rule: hell or high tide,” Manchin told CNN in February, “everyone knows that. I’m fighting to defend the Byrd rule. The president knows that.”
Although Manchin argued against raising the $ 15 minimum wage, instead of offering an increase from the current $ 7.25 to $ 11 an hour, Sinema’s comments on raising the minimum wage focused on parliamentary procedure . She declined to give a figure for what she thinks the minimum wage should be, although in a statement on Friday she said that “senators from both parties have shown support for raising the federal minimum wage”, and that she “will continue to work with colleagues on both sides to ensure that Americans can access well-paid jobs, quality education and skills training to build economically safer lives for them and their families.”
Sinema was in favor of raising the Arizona state minimum wage in 2016. The minimum wage in Arizona was currently $ 12 in January 2020, $ 4.75 more than the federal minimum wage, but one dollar more than Manchin’s proposal.