Saturday, February 20, 2021

Sanders Says He's 'Confident' Minimum Wage Increase Will Stay in Coronavirus Package

Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Saturday he is “confident” that his proposed jobs killing increase of the minimum wage to $15 per hour will stay in the coronavirus relief package that Democrats are trying to pass via the budget reconciliation process.

“Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is not incidental to the federal budget and is permissible under the rules of reconciliation,” Sanders said in a statement.

“I’m confident that the parliamentarian will advise next week that we can raise the minimum wage through the reconciliation process," he added.

In a report, the CBO found the wage hike could lead to the elimination of 1.4 million jobs. 

The only hope of blocking the increase may sit with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) who have come out against it, raising questions of whether a bill with the increase in it could get 50 votes in the upper chamber.

For more on why it is impossible for the minimum wage to achieve what advocates claim it can see here.

-RW

1 comment:

  1. The irony here is that by 2025 when the minimum wage is supposed to reach $15 per hour, inflation will be so bad that the purchasing power of the $15 will be less than that of the current minimum wage.

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