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A $15 Minimum Wage Can’t Be Included In Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan, Senate Official Rules

This article is more than 3 years old.
Updated Mar 4, 2021, 06:12pm EST

Topline

A key advisor to the U.S. Senate on the chamber’s rules and procedures said Thursday that a $15 national minimum wage—a major priority for President Biden and progressive Democrats—cannot be included in the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill Democrats are pushing through Congress under budget reconciliation rules.

Key Facts

The special budget process will allow Democrats, who now control the Senate by the slimmest of margins, to pass Biden’s aggressive stimulus proposal without any Republican votes, but reconciliation rules also require that every provision in the legislation have a direct impact on the federal budget. 

Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s parliamentarian, said Thursday that the wage hike does not meet the criteria to be included in the bill under the special reconciliation process, according to multiple news reports.

The push for a $15 minimum wage emerged as a divisive issue this month as lawmakers began crafting the sweeping rescue package.

Republicans objected to the provision on the basis that it would be too expensive for businesses and could actually cost jobs. 

Conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has said he objects to the wage hike (he has suggested that an $11 per hour national minimum wage would make more sense for his state), as has Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

Crucial Quote

“We must pass a minimum wage bill,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said during a press briefing Thursday morning. She added that Congress last passed a wage hike 14 years ago, when Democrats raised the federal minimum to $7.25 per hour.

Key Background

Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes another round of $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals—another sticking point for some lawmakers. The proposal also includes expanded federal unemployment insurance of $400 per week through the end of August, a major expansion of the child tax credit, $130 billion for schools, $160 billion for coronavirus testing, tracing, and vaccines, roughly $7 billion for small businesses and $350 billion for state and local governments.

Tangent

On Tuesday, Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Mitt Romney of Utah introduced a counterproposal to raise the minimum wage to $10 by 2025 and then index the wage to inflation every two years. That plan would grant businesses with fewer than 20 employees an extra two years to comply with the federal minimum, and it would require that employers verify the legal state of their workers. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) signed onto that plan on Thursday, one day after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced another alternative. Hawley’s plan would send quarterly refundable tax credits to workers earning less than $16.50 per hour. The tax credits would only go to those workers with valid Social Security numbers. 

What To Watch For

The House of Representatives will vote on its version of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Friday. The Senate will also assemble its own version of the legislation, and the two bills must be reconciled before they are sent to Biden’s desk.

What We Don’t Know

The Washington Post reported Thursday afternoon that House Democrats still planned to include the $15 minimum wage provision in the bill if the parliamentarian voted against them, but House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told CNN Thursday evening that Democrats hadn’t yet made that decision. It’s not yet clear whether Democrats will pursue a narrower compromise that might attract enough bipartisan support to pass as a standalone bill outside of the reconciliation process.

Further Reading

Republican Senators Unveil $10 Minimum Wage Plan To Counter Democrats' $15 An Hour Proposal (Forbes)

Democrats Await Key Ruling On $15 Minimum Wage In Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Package (Forbes)

It’s A Big Week For Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan—Here’s What To Watch For (Forbes)

Sanders 'Confident' $15 Minimum Wage Will Pass Senate Without Republican Support (Forbes)

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