WASHINGTON, Feb 26, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – A key US Senate official ruled
Thursday that President Joe Biden’s $15 per hour minimum wage measure cannot
be included in the huge Covid relief bill as written, imperiling Democratic
efforts to fulfill a progressive priority.
The Senate parliamentarian told lawmakers that the minimum wage language is
not eligible to be in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus package if Democrats seek
to pass it through a filibuster-proof bill.
The process, known as reconciliation, allows lawmakers to pass a budget-
related bill with just a simple 51-vote majority in the 100-member chamber,
rather than the 60 votes normally required for major legislation.
Republicans in the evenly split Senate are largely opposed to the relief
package, meaning Democrats would need to shelve the national minimum wage
hike to $15 an hour from $7.25 if they want any chance at passing the Covid
aid.
“President Biden is disappointed in this outcome, as he proposed having the
$15 minimum wage as part of the American Rescue Plan,” White House press
secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
“He urges Congress to move quickly to pass the (bill), which includes $1400
rescue checks for most Americans” and other funding to help control and
eliminate the pandemic.
Republicans voiced support for the ruling, with Senator Lindsey Graham
saying “this decision will, over time, reinforce the traditions of the
Senate.”
The blow to Democrats comes one day before the House of Representatives
votes on the plan aimed at providing relief to millions of struggling
American families, along with businesses and communities hurt by the
pandemic.
The ruling affects only the Senate. But because any bill must pass both
chambers before the president signs it into law, parliamentarian Elizabeth
MacDonough’s decision effectively strips the wage hike out of the package.
– ‘Archaic and undemocratic’ –
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nevertheless insisted her chamber will go ahead
with its vote on the bill — with the wage increase included.
“House Democrats believe that the minimum wage hike is necessary,” Pelosi
said in a statement.
“Therefore, this provision will remain in the American Rescue Plan on the
floor tomorrow.
Should that pass, the minimum wage language would likely be stripped out of
the Senate version.
With the Senate split 50-50, Democrats would need to remain unified if they
get no Republican support, then count on a tie-breaking vote from Vice
President Kamala Harris.
If the Senate and House versions are different, as they now appear certain
to be, they would need to be reconciled into a single bill and passed again
before Biden signs it into law.
Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who is also
chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, blasted the Senate ruling.
Most Americans support a minimum wage hike, Sanders said.
“Yet because of the archaic and undemocratic rules of the Senate we are
unable to move forward to end starvation wages and raise the income of 32
million struggling Americans,” he added. “That fight continues.”
Sanders said he aims to offer a countermeasure in the bill: an amendment to
strip tax deductions from major corporations that don’t pay above $15 an
hour.