“It’s a more durable solution if it’s 60 votes,” Coons said Monday after some “very preliminary” weekend talks with Republicans about raising wages.
Republicans “realize it needs to be increased,” Senator Angus King (I-Maine) said. ‘There are three chapters: the number, the submission and the fee. These are the three things we need to work on. We should try to have some discussions. This is the way you are supposed to do legislation. ”
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) Proposal will increase the wage in steps to $ 15 by 2025. It does not have unanimous support among the Senate Democrats, and Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) has a compromise number of $ 11. But Sanders insists that the Democrats try to eliminate the filibuster to pass the minimum wage increase, and ruled out that it goes below $ 15 per hour, which he says is a compromise. ‘
Several Republicans said Monday that they will be higher than the $ 10-hour GOP bill led by Sens Mitt Romney of Utah and Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Romney said Monday that he had discussed a possible way forward with Democrats over the pay rise and suggested the most likely way to work with the minority.
‘I do not understand this all-or-nothing approach. Going from $ 7.25 to $ 10 an hour … is a significant increase. Why would the progressives Chuck is clearly listening to be opposed to it? ‘it sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) of Schumer said. “It sounds like Chuck wants a problem, not a solution.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) said he was studying a proposal from Waffle House that would increase a six- to seven-year wage increase to $ 15. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.), who supports the Cotton-Romney proposal, said she was prepared to rise above $ 10, but that Democrats “need to realize it has to be a compromise number.”
However, the GOP’s proposal for stricter application of the immigration system, known as E-verification, may be a firm point. This program confirms that employees are eligible for workers, but some Democrats are wary of discussing any change that could target unemployed people without documents as a condition for a smaller minimum wage hump.
Instead of tackling the IDP, Democrats could also try to wait for another shot at raising wages by protecting budget reconciliation, a tool that enables them to meet Senate’s super-mate requirement. evades, but has angry rules governing its use. To make this happen, they will have to make another argument to the MP after trying in vain to force a wage increase in a Covid emergency relief bill.
Senate Democrats have been campaigning for a pay rise since 2014, and some senators have been pushing for much longer. The party could run the risk of getting nothing unless it liaised with Republicans. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Democrats would likely have to compromise if they wanted to raise the federal wage above the current, stagnant $ 7.25 level that last rose in 2009.
“We definitely need enough votes to overcome a filibuster, and it takes ten more than us,” Durbin said. “I think that’s the only solution.”
But some Democrats are unwilling to enter into an agreement with the other party. Progressive people say the only way forward is to undermine the filibuster and kill the 60-vote requirement for legislation – or at least overthrow the parliamentarian’s advice to exclude the bill’s wage increase. Both of these options are endorsed by Sanders, who plans to introduce a minimum wage amendment when the Covid bill reaches the floor but does not currently have the votes to advance, given the opposition of Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Said she did not want to wait for Republicans to come on board or on a second reconciliation bill. Of the GOP’s current bid for the minimum wage, she replied: ‘It’s just not a serious proposal. And does not work. She said getting rid of the filibuster was the answer to most of the party’s procedural problems.
Democrats have another option on the pay rise: wait. They could also pick up Senate seats in 2022 to ease their path to the destruction of the filibuster, but that would stop progress on the issue for at least two years. And Republicans say there is an agreement to be reached – if Democrats are willing to join.
“We have some people who are interested in that,” said Senate minority whip John Thune. ‘The $ 15 is a non-starter. And I do not think we have anyone on our side [for that], and there are some Democrats who will also oppose it. ”