The Senate MP on Thursday ruled that Democrats cannot include the $ 15 per hour minimum wage increase in the COVID-19 economic aid package. It’s a major setback for Democrats like Senator Bernie Sanders, who had argued that it could even be included in the budget reconciliation process.
But President Biden told Norah O’Donnell, anchor of CBS Evening News earlier this month that he didn’t think the minimum wage hike would eventually be included.
The increase “will not occur because of United States Senate rules,” said Mr. Biden.
“I put it in there, but I don’t think it will survive,” he added.
Instead, the president said he is willing to work on a standalone $ 15 minimum wage proposal.
Congressional Democrats chose to use the procedural maneuver known as budget reconciliation to pass the bill, allowing it to be passed only by a simple majority in the Senate. Most legislation requires 60 votes in the Senate to move forward, so the budget reconciliation process allows Democrats – who hold a majority of 50 seats – to pass the bill without Republican votes.
There are strict rules for using the budget reconciliation process, such as the “Byrd Rule”, which requires all provisions in the bill to be budget related, and not to increase the federal deficit after a budget period of 10 years. Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the minimum wage increase did not meet the parameters for budgetary reconciliation.
Some Democrats had already opposed the inclusion of a $ 15 minimum wage in the emergency. Senator Joe Manchin told reporters this week that he believed a $ 15 minimum wage by 2025 was too high and would harm more rural states like his own West Virginia.
“$ 11 is the right place to be,” Manchin told reporters Monday. “Throwing away $ 15 right now just makes it very difficult in rural America.”
If the MP allowed the minimum wage to be included, it is not clear that the Democrats could have gathered the votes to make it so successful. The Senate can dispense with the MP’s ruling, which requires a simple majority.
In a statement, Sanders said he “disagrees at all with the Senate MP’s decision.” However, he said he would push to go ahead with an amendment that penalizes companies that don’t offer a $ 15 minimum wage, and incentivizes small businesses to increase their wages.
“In the coming days, I will work with my colleagues in the Senate to move forward with an amendment to remove tax deductions from large, profitable companies that don’t pay employees at least $ 15 an hour and to provide small businesses with the incentives that they need to raise wages. That amendment should be included in this reconciliation law, ”he said.
Senate leader Chuck Schumer also said he is “deeply disappointed” in the decision.
“We are not going to give up the fight to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 to help millions of American workers and their families,” he said, without providing details. “The American people deserve it, and we are determined to make it happen.”
GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, on the other hand, applauded the ruling, tweeting that he is “very pleased that the Senate MP has ruled that a minimum wage hike is an inappropriate policy change in reconciliation.
“This decision strengthens reconciliation and cannot be used as a means of making major legislative changes – by both parties – by simple majority,” Graham added. “This decision will, over time, strengthen the traditions of the Senate.”
The House is expected to vote on Mr Biden’s original proposal on Friday. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Thursday evening that Parliament would vote on the version of the bill including the increase in the minimum wage.
“House Democrats believe the minimum wage hike is necessary. That’s why this provision will remain in the American Rescue Plan on the Floor tomorrow. The Democrats in Parliament are determined to take every possible path in the Fight For 15,” Pelosi said.
The bill is expected to pass in the House without a Republican vote. Progressive Democrats in the House may choose to take a tough stance on the minimum wage increase and refuse to support a version of the bill that does not include a $ 15 minimum wage, thus creating a confrontation with more moderate party members in the Senate.
Raising the minimum wage is very popular, with a 2019 survey from the Pew Research Center showing that 67% of Americans are in favor of raising the minimum wage to $ 15. It even has support in some red states, as shown. from a Florida voting initiative to raise the minimum wage increase to $ 15 by 2026, which was passed with the support of more than 60% of voters in the last election.