Elected President Joe Biden (C) along with Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Jon Ossoff (L) and Rev. Raphael Warnock (R) greets supporters during a campaign march the day before their run-off election in the parking lot of Centerparc Stadium in Atlanta. .
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
A federal minimum wage of $ 15 has risen closer to Tuesday’s by-elections in Georgia, which is likely to bring down Senate control and unite the government under the Democratic Party.
Such a salary increase would more than double the current federal minimum wage, $ 7.25 per hour, but would likely meet resistance from some Republicans and business groups.
Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, on Tuesday won the run-up to the U.S. Senate in Georgia and beat Republican incumbent Senator Kelly Loeffler, according to NBC News predictions.
Democrat Jon Ossoff was the leader of Republican David Perdue, whose Senate seat expired Sunday, in the other Georgia race, which according to NBC News was too close on Wednesday afternoon.
Democratic victories in the contests would give Democrats control of the Senate, House and presidency. Congress on Wednesday will confirm the election of President Joe Biden over President Donald Trump.
“It’s an absolute priority,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, about the Democrats passing legislation to set a higher pay floor.
More from Personal Finance:
Stimulus checks of $ 2,000 possible if Democrats win Senate majority
Scammers steal $ 36 billion in unemployment benefits
In Georgetown, tensions rise over decision to hold distance education
Democrats, especially those from the party’s liberal wing, have long pushed to raise the national minimum wage. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who usually agrees with the Democrats, said in a Tuesday tweet that a minimum wage of $ 15 was at stake in Georgia’s by-elections.
Proponents of raising the payroll argue that the current standard does not provide a living wage for Americans.
$ 15,080 per year
The federal minimum wage, currently $ 7.25 per hour, has not been increased since 2009. According to the National Employment Law Project, the wage translates to $ 15,080 for a full-time employee throughout the year.
Its value has eroded over time, as wages do not rise along with the cost of living.
Warnock and Ossoff are in favor of a minimum wage of $ 15, a point they have emphasized many times in recent months. Biden undertook to increase the wage floor to $ 15 per hour. The House voted in favor of it in 2019.
Several states, cities, and provinces have recently raised their minimum wages, many to $ 15 or higher. Forty cities and counties will have reached or exceeded a minimum wage of $ 15 by the end of 2021, according to the National Employment Law Project.
“What we’ve seen over the last forty years in America is that wages for working people have been shattered while returns to shareholders have gone through the roof,” Ossoff said. said on the campaign trail.
A higher wage will help black and Hispanic workers beyond other groups such as Whites and Asians disproportionately, research shows. In December, Warnock called raising the minimum wage a ‘matter of racial justice’.
Wage increases would occur at a time when low-wage earners and racial minorities have been excessively affected by job loss and poverty during the Covid pandemic.
Opposition
However, the adoption of such legislation is not self-evident. If both Democrats win in Georgia, the Senate will be split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Kamala Harris, vice president, able to cast a casting vote in favor of Democrats. That majority would scare the threshold to prevent a filibuster.
The Republican-controlled Senate did not bring the Wage Increase Act to a vote after the bill was passed by the House in 2019.
Some business groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, have voiced opposition, saying a $ 15 national minimum wage would increase labor costs and force employers to lay off workers.
Small businesses, which are less likely to have cash reserves or profit margins to absorb higher labor costs, will bear the brunt of the negative consequences, the NFIB said earlier this year.
The calculation by the Congressional Budget Office would gradually increase the wage for 17 million Americans to $ 20 by 2025. About 10 million more people earning just over $ 15 an hour could also pay. It is estimated that 1.3 million other workers would lose their jobs.
However, Momentum appears to be with the Democrats because of overwhelming public support, Hamrick said.
‘The economy could bear the biggest increase in the rise [in 2009]”Hamrick said.” The year was of course challenging for other reasons [due to the Great Recession], but no one looks back on 2009 and says, ‘It was a big policy mistake.’