Senate awaits decision on MP’s minimum wage

“We are waiting, as we all are, to hear from the Senate MP what will happen to the minimum wage of the legislation,” said Nancy Pelosi (D., California) of the House. “I feel that we have a very, very strong argument and that we have a very great need in our country to pass the minimum wage.”

The minimum wage increase is the most divisive issue in the aid package, which the Democrats broadly support. The package also offers a payment of $ 1400 to many Americans; expand and improve federal unemployment assistance; sends $ 350 billion in aid to state and local governments; and provides new funds in the distribution of vaccines, food stamps and schools.

Democratic and Republican staffers presented their arguments before parliamentarians on Wednesday morning over the minimum wage provision and have since waited to hear her recommendation.

“I know we all have a pen and needles,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the GOP’s Senate leadership. “I believe the right verdict would be to say that the budget process cannot be used to pass substantive legislation.”

Democrats use a process called reconciliation to pass the aid package by a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes that require the most legislation. But reconciliation also comes with the Senate rules on what proposals can be approved under the special procedure, including that the provision is directly linked to the budget. It must be established that the criterion has a significant fiscal impact that cannot be with the policy proposal.

As mev. MacDonough decides that if the minimum wage increase is eligible to be included in the package, the Democrats will have to reach a consensus among themselves on how to structure it.

While many Democrats, including the party’s progressive wing, have raised the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, several senators have disputed the plan. Some are concerned about the impact the increase could have on small businesses and restaurants. Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), the party’s main moderate, said he would try to change the wage increase to $ 11 an hour. Other legislators have investigated offering tax relief to small businesses or slowing down the wage increase for smaller businesses.

“Placing $ 15 out there now makes it very difficult in rural America. We have small businesses,” he said. Manchin said.

Mr. Biden said he expects the MP to say that the minimum wage increase cannot be part of the bill.

In a wink to the possibility, Mrs. Pelosi indicated that the House will consider the minimum wage legislation separately if it is not included in the legal aid account.

“We will pass a minimum wage bill,” she said. Legislation outside the conciliation process, however, would require 60 votes in the Senate, where Republicans criticized the $ 15 proposal as detrimental to businesses.

If the Democrats receive the green light from the MP, they will have a matter of weeks to reach a compromise between their ranks and still approve the bill before federal unemployment programs expire in mid-March. With Senate control divided 50-50, Vice President Kamala Harris can break ties, but Democrats cannot lose a single legislature.

If the parliamentarian indicates that the minimum wage provision does not match, the Democrats must make a different set of decisions. Some progressives have said they are campaigning for the White House and Senate lawmakers to ignore her ruling. Several senators said they would be uncomfortable bending the chamber’s rules to raise the minimum wage, as did White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain on Wednesday night.

Ignoring the parliamentarian is ‘not something we will do’, said Mr. Klain told MSNBC. “We will work within the rules of the Senate and approve the bill.”

Republicans have argued that the package provides assistance that is not needed and that is not related to the pandemic.

“This bill is actually too expensive, too corrupt and too liberal,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., California) told Fox News on Thursday.

Republicans said they support raising the minimum wage, but they have their own differences on how to do it.

GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Rob Portman of Ohio joined GOP Sens legislation on Thursday. Mitt Romney of Utah and Tom Cotton of Arkansas who would raise the minimum wage over four years to $ 10 an hour. , begins as soon as the pandemic is over, and requires all employers to use E-Verify, enabling them to check the immigration status of prospective workers.

‘Mrs. Capito said in a statement that the IDP bill shows that ‘there are long-term solutions that can be put forward and debated outside the biased process. merits in its implementation in the name of Covid relief. ”

Earlier this week, Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) said he plans to enact legislation that would grant a quarterly tax credit to workers earning below the average wage of $ 16.50 per hour, which indexed will be against inflation. The credit value is 50% of the difference between the hourly rate of the worker and the average wage for up to 40 hours of work per week.

Healthcare subsidies and support for pensions with more workers are one of the other issues on which the parliamentarian will soon be able to decide. The bill subsidizes 85% of the premium cost for health insurance coverage through Cobra, which most employers have to offer to employees they recently laid off, and provides relief for struggling pensions with more workers.

In addition to removing measures that face the challenges of the procedure, Democrats are also looking at amending the bill by adding new tax measures to increase revenue and keep the total price at $ 1.9 billion. , according to an assistant.

The debate over raising the minimum wage has me. MacDonough brought into the spotlight. She was a former Senate librarian and trial attorney. She has been working in the parliamentarian’s office since 1999. As both parties rely on the reconciliation process to pass legislation by a simple majority, the statements of the parliamentarian played an important role in the most important legislative efforts, including Republican. efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Write to Kristina Peterson at [email protected] and Andrew Duehren at [email protected]