House Democrats include a $ 15 federal minimum wage in the coronavirus relief package, though questions remain about whether the increase can survive consideration by the Senate. The written provision in the bill part of the House Education and Work Committees would gradually increase the salary, going from its current rate of $ 7.25 per hour to $ 15 in 2025.
This comes after the Congressional Budget Office released a report the same day that estimates that raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour in five years would lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty. The CBO found that some 17 million people currently earning below the minimum wage would be directly affected, while another ten million people whose wages are slightly above the minimum rate would also be affected.
At the same time, the CBO projected that raising the minimum wage to $ 15 per hour would result in 1.4 million fewer jobs. He also estimated that the pay rise would increase the federal deficit by $ 54 billion in ten years, with higher spending on health care programs, unemployment, social security and more, while spending on programs like health care. food would decrease because there would be more low-income families no longer need to be trusted.
“The OBC report reinforces the case of gradually raising the minimum wage through the COVID-19 rescue package,” House Education and Work Committee Chairman Bobby Scott said in a statement earlier to be published in the part of its committee of the COVID relief bill. “This non-partisan report shows that raising the minimum wage will act as a direct and specific stimulus for struggling workers and their families.”
Meanwhile, Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders has argued that the only way to approve the $ 15 minimum wage in the Senate would be through budget reconciliation, a process that can be used when legislation has an impact. direct in the federal budget. If so, Senate Democrats would only need 51 votes to approve them, instead of convincing ten Republican senators to join them.
“I find it hard to understand how the OBC concluded that raising the minimum wage would increase the deficit by $ 54 billion,” Sanders said in a statement Monday. “Two years ago, CBO concluded that a minimum wage of $ 15 would increase the deficit by less than $ 1 million in ten years.”
At the same time, however, Sanders said the “good news” was that the OBC report showed that the $ 15 minimum wage increase would affect the budget and therefore could be done through conciliation.
Amid the debate over whether Democrats can use budget reconciliation to raise the minimum wage, it is unclear whether Senate Democrats will have the support of the full caucus. With a 50-50 split in the Senate, Democrats could not lose a single vote and Vice President Kamala Harris would probably have to vote to break the tie. Sen. Joe Manchin said Monday he supports raising the minimum wage to $ 11 an hour.
“States that will make $ 15, those that should make $ 15, are already doing so. And more states will make $ 15, but the minimum wage should not be below the poverty guidelines,” Manchin said.
President Biden, on the inclusion of the $ 15 minimum wage in the coronavirus relief bill, said he “put it on, but I don’t think it will survive.” He told O’Donnell that he would continue to fight for it in an independent bill. Republicans are not favoring the inclusion of the $ 15 minimum wage on the COVID-19 relief bill.
On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Mr. Biden was referring to the Senate parliamentary process during his interview with CBS News when he expressed doubt he would stick to the bill’s version. in the Senate.
“The path to Congress is still being paved and the parliamentarian has yet to make a decision on what will be in the final package,” said Psaki, who stressed that the president still believes in raising the minimum wage.
Psaki said they will “wait to see” what the parliamentarian says about approving a $ 15 salary increase through budget reconciliation.
As for the CBO report, Republicans took advantage of the estimated job losses and rising costs.
“The non-partisan OBC says the $ 15 minimum wage would cost 1.4 million jobs, much more than it would benefit + increase in-store / health care costs and increase the deficit at $ 54 billion, “Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley tweeted. “Including this harmful policy in the COVID relief bill would devastate the same businesses / people who already suffered from the pandemic.”
Alan He contributed to the complaint.