Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) said he is opposed to a $ 15 minimum wage, Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) Said he would like to see changes made and several other Democrats have not compromised. But Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Said in an interview on Wednesday that he was confident he would have the votes to advance the minimum wage through reconciliation, a procedure that would require only a simple majority for approval. : “I believe so. “
“There is an awareness by all members of the Democratic bench that $ 7.25 is a starvation wage,” said Sanders, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. “The American people strongly support raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour and I am confident that members of the Democratic caucus will do the right thing.”
The question may arise as early as Thursday, in the Senate vote – the marathon of the voting process of amendments to the bill – according to two sources familiar with the subject. While this was a non-mandatory calling list, probably forced by Republicans, it would be the first time that Democrats would openly state the issue of the $ 15 hourly wage.
The last time Congress passed legislation to increase the minimum wage was in 2007, at $ 7.25 an hour. This time, Democrats may have to settle for less than Biden’s initial proposal to gradually increase to $ 15 an hour by 2025. 29 states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum wage of $ 7.25.
An important moderate, Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Did not comment on the effort to raise the minimum wage in reconciliation. His new colleague, Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Said he supports raising the minimum wage from the current level, but does not explicitly endorse Biden’s current proposal.
“The details are important in how you do this and what the schedule is. In different communities, economies are different, ”said Kelly in an interview. “I will have to look at the details of what the floor is about the minimum wage.”
The Senate majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) Said the leadership has not yet managed to provide the $ 15 minimum wage. “I’m sure we will have to talk about this before we call,” he said. “And find out where everyone is.”
The Senate parliamentarian, who will assess whether the bill follows long-standing budget rules, is another potential obstacle. Sanders and other advocates of the $ 15 minimum wage argue that the increase would reduce the amount of federal assistance that low-income individuals receive and increase their taxable income – meeting the parliamentarian’s criterion that any reconciliation measure would impact the federal budget. .
Proponents of the $ 15 minimum wage are planning to cite reports from the Institute of Economic Policy and the University of California, Berkeley, which concluded that raising the minimum wage to $ 15 by 2025 would reduce government spending on public assistance programs and increase tax revenue. The Congressional Budget Office is also expected to release a report soon, at Sanders’ request, which will present the case for $ 15 an hour.
A Democratic aide said talks with the congressman could only take place after the budget resolution was passed, which is likely to happen on Friday morning. The Senate can then litigate the issue.
The $ 15 minimum wage is an obstacle for Senate Republicans, who argue that it will hurt small businesses and lead to job losses. In addition, Republicans say states are more suited to determining wage increases. This led Democrats to include the clause in the coronavirus package, which can be approved without Republican Party votes under reconciliation. While Democrats can put an independent bill under discussion, Senate Republicans obstruct it.
Republicans said on Wednesday they were skeptical that the Senate MP would give the Democrats a green light.
“The budget is not a vehicle for passing substantive legislation and I think it will come as a shock to them,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
The House passed a bill that raises the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour in 2019; a Senate bill that raised wages to $ 10.10 was voted by Manchin in 2014, the last time the chamber was controlled by Democrats.
Manchin said on MSNBC that he supports raising the salary to $ 11 and indexing, but that it makes no sense in budget reconciliation.
“This is not the place to do that,” he said. “The increase in the minimum wage, I don’t believe it fits there”.
Asked about Manchin’s comments, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said: “We’ll see.”
“I think the Democrats are united,” said Brown, a progressive who spoke to Biden at the White House on Thursday. “No, we will not be divided. Yes, let’s do this. “
Some senior Democrats in the House predicted that the minimum wage clause could be extinguished after it was passed by the House. On Wednesday, the majority leader in the House, Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Admitted that some things may not be “eligible for consideration of the reconciliation process”.
But Sanders has so far shown no sign of doubt. Vermont Independent said on Wednesday it has “several lawyers” working on the Senate MP’s case.
“We believe that raising the minimum wage will have a broad impact on the federal budget in many, many areas,” he said. “So we believe that we can present a very, very strong case that is consistent with the reconciliation process.”
Quint Forgey and Heather Caygle contributed to this report.