- President Joe Biden says a $ 15 minimum wage increase is unlikely to be in the COVID-19 bill.
- Biden said he would be open to separate negotiations on a rising wage increase.
- “Look, no one has to work 40 hours a week and live on the poverty line,” Biden said.
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President Joe Biden has said he does not believe a measure to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 will eventually be included in the COVID-19 incentive package.
During a CBS interview released on Friday, Biden said that although he included the minimum wage increase in his $ 1.9 billion relief bill, he did not think it would happen because of “the rules of the United States Senate. not.”
“I do not think it will be there,” the president said. “But I think we should have a minimum wage of our own, $ 15 an hour.”
Read more: Democrats move forward with Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 billion COVID stimulus – with or without Republicans. Here are the four key points that can make things worse.
Biden said he would like a separate negotiation on the minimum wage to take place and that the increase be applied incrementally. The federal minimum wage is currently $ 7.25.
“Look, no one is allowed to work 40 hours a week and live on the poverty line. And if you earn less than $ 15 an hour, you live on the poverty wage,” Biden said.
The president and congressional Democrats wanted to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 per hour by 2025 as part of the coronavirus stimulus bill. However, Congress Republicans, and some Democrats, fought against it.
As Senate Democrats position themselves to pass an aid package without any support from the IDP, an amendment passed in the chamber late Thursday is questioned as to whether the wage increase will be included in the bill.