President-elect Joe Biden (C), along with Democratic candidates for the United States Senate Jon Ossoff (L) and Rev. Raphael Warnock (R) greet supporters at a campaign rally the day before their second election in the parking lot of the Centerparc Stadium in Atlanta.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
A federal minimum wage of $ 15 got closer after Tuesday’s election in Georgia, which is likely to overturn Senate control and unify government under the Democratic Party.
Such a wage increase would more than double the current federal minimum wage, $ 7.25 an hour, but would likely face resistance from some Republicans and business groups.
Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, won the U.S. Senate run-off in Georgia on Tuesday, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, according to predictions from NBC News.
Democrat Jon Ossoff led Republican David Perdue, whose Senate seat expired Sunday, in the other race in Georgia, which was too close to call noon Wednesday according to NBC News.
Democratic victories in those games would put the Democrats in control of the Senate, the House, and the Presidency. Congress will confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
“It’s definitely a priority,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, of the Democrats who passed legislation to set a higher pay floor.
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Democrats, especially those from the liberal wing of the party, have long pushed for an increase in the national minimum wage. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who typically votes with Democrats, said in a tweet on Tuesday that a $ 15 minimum wage was at stake in Georgia’s second election.
Proponents of raising the pay floor argue that the current standard does not provide a living wage for Americans.
$ 15,080 per year
The federal minimum wage, currently $ 7.25 an hour, has not increased since 2009. That wage translates to $ 15,080 for a full-time, year-round employee, according to the National Employment Law Project.
Its value has eroded over time as wages do not increase along with the cost of living.
Warnock and Ossoff are in favor of a minimum wage of $ 15, a point they have often highlighted in recent months. Biden promised to raise the wage floor to $ 15 an hour. The House voted for this in 2019.
Several states, cities and counties have recently raised their minimum wages, many to $ 15 or higher. According to the National Employment Law Project, 40 cities and counties will have met or exceeded the $ 15 minimum wage by the end of 2021.
“What we’ve seen in America over the past 40 years is that wages for working people have been crushed, while returns to shareholders have gone through the roof,” said Ossoff. said on the campaign trail.
A higher wage would help black and Hispanic workers disproportionately over other groups such as whites and Asians, research shows. In December, Warnock called raising the minimum wage a “racial justice issue.”
Wage increases would come at a time when low-wage workers and racial minorities were disproportionately affected by job losses and poverty during the Covid pandemic.
Opposition
However, the adoption of such legislation is not self-evident. If both Democrats win in Georgia, the Senate will be split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris able to cast a casting vote in favor of the Democrats. That majority would exceed the threshold to avoid a filibuster.
The Republican-controlled Senate did not put the Raise the Wage Act to a vote after the bill was passed by the House in 2019.
Some business groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation for Independent Affairs, have opposed, saying that a national minimum wage of $ 15 would increase labor costs and prompt employers to lay off employees.
Small businesses, which are less likely to have cash reserves or profit margins to absorb higher labor costs, would suffer from those negative effects, the NFIB states. said earlier this year.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a gradual increase in wages to $ 15 by 2025 would increase wages for 17 million Americans. About 10 million more people who earn just over $ 15 an hour can also get a raise. But it is estimated that 1.3 million other workers would lose their jobs.
However, momentum appears to be with the Democrats on this issue due to the overwhelming public support, Hamrick said.
“The economy has been able to bear the brunt of that increase [in 2009]Hamrick said. That year was clearly challenging for other reasons [due to the Great Recession], but no one looks back on 2009 and says, “That was a major policy mistake.” ”