The Debate Over the $15 Minimum Wage Intensifies
President Biden in the Oval Office. Source.
One of the most controversial provisions of President Biden’s proposed COVID relief package, now being debated in Congress, would increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour. The plan includes a number of other ambitious policy objectives: $1400 stimulus checks, increasing weekly unemployment benefits, making the Child Tax Credit fully refundable and increasing its amount, and allocating billions of dollars to fight the pandemic.
While these other initiatives have certainly provoked sharp debates of their own, the minimum wage proposal faces especially strong resistance and could be a sticking point in congressional negotiations on COVID relief. Many Republicans strongly oppose a $15 minimum wage, and it is still uncertain how some moderate Democrats would vote on the issue, as 12 centrist Democrats have not yet formally signed on to the measure.
Normally, passing a controversial piece of legislation such as this would require 60 votes in the Senate to break the filibuster. In the present debate, however, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has indicated that he is ready to advance the relief package, including the minimum wage hike, through reconciliation — a process that would allow the measure to avoid a filibuster and pass with just a simple majority.
To succeed in this plan, however, Senate Democrats will need unanimous support from their caucus. With an evenly divided senate, just a single Democrat standing in opposition to the minimum wage increase could derail the effort.
The process of using reconciliation to push minimum wage legislation has drawn significant controversy. A Senate policy, known as the Byrd Rule, states that provisions which have a “merely incidental” effect on federal revenues or outlays should not qualify under reconciliation.
Many argue that the minimum wage falls under this category. Obviously, a change in the minimum wage will affect people’s incomes and thus also federal tax revenues and outlays on public assistance programs, but this effect on the budget is an indirect one.
It is generally up to the Senate parliamentarian to decide what is permissible under the Byrd Rule, but some Democrats have expressed willingness to allow Vice President Kamala Harris to overrule the parliamentarian, if necessary. Others remain hesitant to initiate a controversy over the Byrd Rule and are still hopeful to obtain bipartisan support on a relief bill.
On Sunday, a group of 10 Senate Republicans, aiming to prevent the use of reconciliation, sent a letter to President Biden calling for compromise on a relief package. If an agreement is reached, the addition of these 10 senators will allow the Democratic majority to meet the 60 vote threshold needed to break a filibuster and advance the legislation to a vote.
The controversy over the minimum wage, and the broader COVID relief bill, present the first major legislative challenge of Biden’s presidency. As the negotiations progress, we may gain key insight into President Biden’s approach to governing. By working with Republicans, he can prove his commitment to uniting the country, but he may have to decide if that is worth potentially compromising on one of his key campaign promises of a $15 minimum wage.