In a tweet expressing opposition to raising the national minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, South Dakota Republican Senator John Thune said he made $ 6 an hour working at a restaurant when he was a “kid”. Adjusted for modern inflation, that would be $ 24 an hour today.
Republican congressmen were broadly opposed to the Democratic proposal to raise the minimum wage. They argue that a pay rise will hurt small businesses that have already been economically harmed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“I started working serving tables at the Star Family Restaurant for $ 1 / hour and slowly started cooking – big leagues for a kid like me – to earn $ 6 / hour,” wrote Thune in a tweet on Wednesday night. “Small-town businesses survive on narrow margins. Mandating a $ 15 minimum wage would leave many of them out of the market.”
I started working at tables in the Star Family Restaurant for $ 1 / hour and slowly started cooking – the big leagues for a kid like me – to earn $ 6 / hour. Small-town businesses survive on narrow margins. Mandating a $ 15 minimum wage would put many of them out of business. pic.twitter.com/izQDOGRAH1
– Senator John Thune (@SenJohnThune) February 24, 2021
It is unclear how many years Thune worked at the restaurant in his hometown, Murdo, South Dakota, where he attended high school.
However, Thune was born in 1961. Assuming he was making $ 6 an hour when he was 17 – the last year is still considered a non-adult under the national age of consent, which is 18 – the year would have been 1978.
A salary of $ 6 an hour in 1978, adjusted to modern inflation rates, would amount to $ 24.07 an hour in 2021. A person who earns $ 24.07 an hour, working 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year would earn more than $ 50,000 annually before tax.
Tom Williams / AFP / Getty
A person who works the same hours and earns the Democrats’ proposed wage of $ 15 an hour would earn just over $ 31,200 a year, before taxes. A person who works the same hours and earns the current national minimum wage of $ 7.25 an hour would earn just over $ 15,080 a year, before taxes. The Department of Health and Human Services lists the poverty line for a single-person family in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia is $ 12,880 per year.
On Monday, Republican Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Mitt Romney of Utah introduced a $ 10 national minimum wage plan. This is called the Higher Wages Act for American Workers. The Republican Party’s plan would gradually raise the federal minimum wage from its current rate of $ 7.25 an hour to $ 10 an hour by 2025.
A person receiving the Republican Party’s proposed salary of $ 10 an hour, working 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year, would earn more than $ 20,800 annually before taxes.
The plan was criticized by Democratic lawmakers and others for being less than the minimum wage in Cotton’s home state – $ 11 an hour.
Romney and Cotton’s plan would only raise the wages of about 3% of American workers, compared to 21.2% of workers under the Democratic proposal, according to an analysis published on Wednesday by the Economic Policy Institute.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders and Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin pledged to support approval of the $ 15 hourly minimum wage through a procedure called budget reconciliation, which would circumvent the need for Republican support. .
However, even this procedure would require a majority of House Democrats and all Senate Democrats to approve the measure, and Democratic Senator West Virginia Joe Manchin said he would not help approve the measure without Republican support. Manchin said he supports the wage increase, calling the current $ 7.25 an hour “poverty wages”.
Some progressive Democrats may also object, believing that a minimum wage increase should be more than $ 15 an hour. As evidence, they cited studies that show that only a few states have affordable one-bedroom apartments for those working 40 hours at a wage of $ 15 an hour.
On February 1, Republican congressmen presented their own $ 618 billion economic stimulus project, which completely removed any mention of an increase in the minimum wage.
In response, Biden said he would “not accept” his pandemic relief bill.
Newsweek contacted Thune’s office for comment.