“It is a more durable solution if it is 60 votes,” Coons said on Monday after some “very preliminary” weekend discussions with Republicans about raising wages.
Republicans “see a need to increase,” said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine). “There are three main parts: the number, the progressive introduction and the salary paid. These are the three things we must work on. We should try to have some discussions. This is how you should legislate. “
Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) Proposal would raise the salary to $ 15 in stages by 2025. There is no unanimous support among Senate Democrats, and Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) has suggested a compromise number of $ 11. But Sanders insists that Democrats try to remove the obstruction to approve the minimum wage increase and ruled out going below $ 15 an hour, which he said “is already a compromise”.
Several Republicans said on Monday they would be open to going beyond the $ 10 an hour Republican bill led by Sens. Mitt Romney from Utah and Tom Cotton from Arkansas. Romney said on Monday that he is discussing a possible way forward with the Democrats in raising wages and suggested that working with the minority is the most likely way.
“I don’t understand this all-or-nothing approach. Going from $ 7.25 to $ 10 an hour … is a substantial and long-awaited increase. So why are the progressives Chuck is clearly listening to oppose this? ”Said Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) of Schumer. “It looks like Chuck wants a problem, not a solution.”
Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) said he is considering a proposal from the Waffle House that predicts a salary increase to $ 15 in six or seven years. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.), who supports Cotton-Romney’s proposal, said she is open to going over $ 10, but that Democrats “need to realize that this will have to be a compromise amount” .
The Republican Party’s proposal for tighter enforcement of the immigration system known as E-verify may be an obstacle, however. This program confirms job eligibility for workers, but some Democrats would hesitate to discuss any changes that could target undocumented workers as a condition for a lower minimum wage increase.
Instead of dealing with the Republican Party, Democrats could also try to wait for another chance to raise wages using budgetary reconciliation protections, a tool that allows them to avoid the Senate supermajority requirement, but has mysterious rules that govern their use. For that to happen, they would have to present the parliamentarian with a different argument after trying in vain to force a salary increase on a Covid emergency aid project.
Senate Democrats have been campaigning to raise wages since 2014, and some individual senators have been pushing for much longer. The party is in danger of receiving nothing, unless it commits itself to the Republicans. Senate majority leader Dick Durbin said Democrats are more likely to have to compromise if they want to raise the federal wage above the current and stagnant $ 7.25 level that it increased in 2009.
“We certainly need enough votes to overcome an obstruction, and that requires 10 more than we have,” said Durbin. “I think this is the only resource.”
But some Democrats are not ready to make any deals with the other party. Progressives are saying that the only way forward is to destroy the obstruction and end the requirement of 60 votes in the legislation – or at least annul the parliamentary council to exclude the salary increase from the bill. Both options are endorsed by Sanders, who plans to offer an amendment to the minimum wage when the Covid bill reaches the floor, but currently has no vote to move forward due to opposition from Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) .
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Said she did not want to wait for Republicans to come on board or for a second reconciliation project. Regarding the Republican Party’s current offer for the minimum wage, she replied: “This is not a serious proposal. And it doesn’t work. ”She said getting rid of the obstruction is the answer to most of the party’s procedural problems.
Democrats have one more option in raising wages: wait. They could also bet on obtaining seats in the Senate in 2022 to facilitate the way to destroy the obstruction, but that would hinder the progress of the issue for at least two years. And Republicans say there is a deal to be made – if Democrats are willing to engage.
“We have some people who are interested in that,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune. “The $ 15 is not enough. And I don’t think we have anyone on our side [for that], and there are some Democrats who are also going to oppose that ”.