Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden
Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenBiden nominee predicts post-Trump trade agenda. Labor expands unemployment benefits for workers who reject employers bypassing COVID-19 rules. Democrats hesitate to raise taxes amid pandemic MORE (D-Ore.) On Friday he announced Democrats’ “Plan B” to raise the minimum wage after the Senate congressman determined that a previous proposal by House Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage by $ 15 an hour did not meet special budget rules.
Wyden is proposing an alternative solution that would impose a 5% tax penalty on large corporations if any of their workers earn less than a certain amount, with the penalty increasing over time.
The language would ensure that large companies would have a significant financial incentive to raise wages, even if they were not required by law to pay employees more than the current federal minimum wage of $ 7.25 an hour.
“As chairman of the Finance Committee, I have been working on a ‘plan B’ that would make big companies pay for mistreating their workers. My plan would impose a 5% penalty on a large corporation’s total payroll if any worker earned less than a certain amount. That penalty would increase over time, ”Wyden said in a statement.
A senior Democratic aide said on Friday that the Senate majority leader Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerHillicon Valley: Biden signs order for chips | Hearing about media misinformation | Facebook agreement with Australia | CIA Nominee at SolarWinds House Rules Launches New Text for COVID-19 Budowsky Relief Bill: Cruz Goes to Cancún, AOC Goes to Texas MORE (DN.Y.) is considering adding such a provision to the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package. He is due to bring the legislation to the plenary next week.
Wyden said his plan would include safeguards to prevent companies from escaping the fine by outsourcing jobs.
“For example, if a profitable mega-corporation like Walmart dismisses a store security guard and replaces him with a contractor who earns much less, my proposal would still require Walmart to pay a fine,” said Wyden.
Wyden wants to encourage what he calls “the smallest of small businesses” to raise workers’ wages by providing an income tax credit equal to 25% of wages – up to $ 10,000 a year per employer – for companies that increase wages. salary.
Senate congresswoman Elizabeth MacDonough addressed a serious setback for Democrats this week, when advising a proposal under the jurisdiction of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to raise the minimum wage was mainly a policy change with only an incidental budgetary effect.
As a result, President biden
Joe BidenBiden ‘disappointed’ by the Senate parliamentary decision, but ‘respects’ the decision Taylor Swift celebrates the passage of the Equality Act in the House Donald Trump Jr. calls Bruce Springsteen’s dropped charges a ‘liberal privilege’ MOREThe proposal to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour cannot be passed in the Senate by a simple majority of votes.
The Senate Byrd rule requires that proposals included in budgetary reconciliation packages – which can be approved by a simple majority of votes – produce changes in expenses or revenues that are not merely incidental to the impacts of their policies.
By structuring incentives for large corporations and small businesses to raise wages such as tax penalties and tax benefits, Wyden feels confident that the congressman will agree that these reforms meet Byrd’s rule and can avoid Republican obstruction.
“As the talks continue, I believe this ‘plan B’ provides us with a way to move forward and do this through the reconciliation process,” said Wyden.
“Workers have not received a federal salary increase in over a decade. We cannot continue to have millions of workers – workers disproportionately, people of color, women and essential workers, such as fast food workers and home health aides – earning hunger wages, ”he added.
If Democrats can’t find a way to fit the minimum wage increase into the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package they plan to approve under special budget rules, they will need to reach an agreement with at least 10 Republicans to reach 60 – voting limit to overcome an obstruction.
Sens. Mitt Romney
Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyGrassley will vote against Tanden’s nomination The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by The AIDS Institute – Ahead: One-shot vax, easing restrictions, isolated Haley tax aid after Trump fallout MORE (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton
Tom Bryant CottonTrump will reappear on the political scene at CPAC Romney-Cotton, a taxi driver from Cancun and the minimum wage debate On The Money: Schumer urges Democrats to join the .9T bill | Collins dismisses Republican Party support for Biden’s relief plan | Powell fights inflation fear MORE (R-Ark.) This week presented a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $ 10 an hour in 2025 and tie up the salary increase to crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants, demonstrating the wide gap between where Democrats and many Republicans are in the issue.