Minimum wage hike all but dead in Senate pandemic relief bill
‘Groundbreaking’ strides in self-driving tech promised
WASHINGTON – Democrats’ efforts to include a minimum wage increase in their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill seemed all but dead Monday as Senate leaders prepared to begin debate on their own version of the House-passed aid package.
Top Democrats have abandoned a potential amendment threatening tax increases on big companies that don’t boost workers’ pay to certain levels, Senate aides said. Four days after the chamber’s parliamentarian said Senate rules forbid inclusion of a straight-out minimum wage increase in the relief measure, Democrats seemed to have exhausted their most realistic options for quickly salvaging the pay hike.
“At this moment, we may not have path, but I hope we can find one” for pushing the federal pay floor to $15 an hour, said No. 2 Senate Democratic leader Richard Durbin of Illinois.
Senate Democrats hope to unveil their version of the broad relief package and begin debate as early as Wednesday. Congressional leaders want to send President Joe Biden the legislation combating the pandemic and bolstering the economy by March 14, the date emergency jobless benefits that lawmakers approved in December expire.
The bill is Biden’s biggest early legislative priority. It looms as an initial test of his ability to unite Democrats in the Senate – where the party has no votes to spare – and risks lasting damage to his influence should he fail. Republicans are strongly against the legislation and could well oppose it unanimously, as House GOP lawmakers did when that chamber approved the bill early Saturday.
The overall bill would provide $1,400 payments to individuals plus hundreds of billions of dollars for schools and colleges, COVID-19 vaccines and coronavirus testing, mass transit systems, renters and small businesses. It also has money for child care, tax breaks for families with children and states willing to expand Medicaid coverage.
Senate Democrats may reshape the $350 billion the bill provides for state and local governments. They also might extend its fresh round of emergency unemployment benefits, which would be $400 weekly, through September instead of August, as the House approved.
The parliamentarian’s interpretation of Senate rules could force other changes as well. These might include dropping or altering provisions in the House bill providing billions of dollars to help some struggling pension plans and to help people who’ve lost jobs afford health insurance.
U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Joe Manchin, D-WVa., on Monday introduced legislation to provide billions in tax credits for factories built or retooled to make clean or advanced energy products.
The legislation would authorize $8 billion in tax credits for companies making parts and products that reduce carbon emissions.
Stabenow’s office said that could include manufacturers making batteries for electric and electric-hybrid vehicles, semiconductor chips and components for solar panels or wind turbines. The tax credit would allow up to 30% of the investment to be written off.
Half of the funding would be dedicated to projects in communities where coal mines or coal-fired power plants have been shut down.
An earlier version of the tax credit written by Stabenow and used during the recession in 2009-10 and again in 2013 did not dedicate funds in those areas.
That provision, though, could greatly help coal mining communities in West Virginia, and Manchin’s sponsorship — and possible support from more moderate or conservative senators from other coal mining states — could aid its passage.
Stabenow said it could help keep skilled workers in Michigan by creating new investment in areas seeing high unemployment.
“Transitioning to a clean energy economy creates significant opportunities for Michigan to put people to work in good-paying jobs,” she said. “Unfortunately, we have fallen behind countries like China, and the COVID-19 crisis has exposed gaps in our domestic manufacturing. The good news is, we can do something about it.”
Last week, President Joe Biden signed an executive order for a review of a shortage of semiconductors needed by automakers and other industries caused by increased demand for computers, games and phones created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the previous program, the U.S. Department of Energy assessed projects receiving the credits. Last week, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm was confirmed by the Senate as Biden’s energy secretary, having received backing from Manchin, who is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Several environmental, labor and auto groups endorsed the legislation, including the Sierra Club, the United Mine Workers and all three Detroit-based automakers. Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, said the shortage of auto-grade semiconductor chips “illustrates the need for the U.S. to make structural investments.” Genevieve Cullen, president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association, a trade association, said it could be key to “promoting investment in electric drive vehicles and infrastructure.”
The long-awaited revival of the Volkwagen microbus will finally happen in 2022, and it’ll apparently include some form of autonomous driving capability.
VW confirmed Monday that it plans to debut its new electric van next year, which would be a half-decade after a concept version made a splash at the 2017 Detroit auto show.
The German automaker announced it will integrate autonomous driving technology into the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, making it a 21st-century callback to an era filled with nostalgia.
While the production version of the van is set to be revealed in 2022, VW U.S. CEO Scott Keogh recently told Automotive News that the
ID.Buzz won’t be available for sale in the U.S. until 2023.
The concept vehicle’s much-heralded debut came in the early stages of a trend called #vanlife, in which people travel the country living out of their vans, by choice. The trend has taken off during the pandemic as Americans take advantage of new remote-work options.
When it made its debut as a concept vehicle, the VW ID.Buzz was said to have a range of up to 270 miles per charge. It’s unclear whether that figure will stick.
On Monday, VW said the vehicle would make “groundbreaking” strides on self-driving technology. The company recently invested in autonomous vehicle technology startup Argo AI and plans to test it this year in “a version of ” the ID.Buzz.
“The aim is to develop a ride-hailing and pooling concept,” VW said. “In the middle of this decade, our customers will then have the opportunity to be taken to their destination in selected cities with autonomous vehicles.”