Even though Democrats have all the power right now, they are running into some challenges to get their $15 minimum wage hike installed.
After the Senate Parliamentarian ruled the hike could not be included in the stimulus bill, Dems were considering slamming companies with penalties that did not voluntarily move their minimum wage up to the $15 mark.
That plan, however, now appears to be abandoned after considerable pushback.
Won’t Work
Dems thought they had a way to hammer corporations, but they soon realized that if they go through with this plan, it will probably hurt workers more than it will help.
One of the workarounds for companies would be to simply hire only contract workers, who would not be held to the same wage standard.
While most of us would agree the minimum wage should be increased, we would also agree that this should be left up to the states rather than the federal government.
The cost of living in every state is different, so doing a blanket increase in some states could cripple the economy and cost jobs.
Economists have already analyzed what such a proposal would do to the job market, estimating that while 900,000 people would be lifted out of poverty status, it would cost about 1.4 million jobs in the process.
Republicans have offered a counter-proposal, offering a staged increase of the wage, but Democrats have yet to budge on their demands.
Since the House passed Biden’s COVID package with the wage hike, it will now go to the Senate where the legislation has already been deemed to be against Senate rules.
The only workaround on this is if Kamala Harris overrules the Parliamentarian, something that Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain has said they will not do.
Source: Fox Business
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