Adjust minimum wage bill
The legislation is necessary but needs tweaks
The U. S. House recently passed a $ 15 an hour minimum wage bill, and while the intent of it is admirable, the measure is flawed and should not move forward as written in the Senate.
The federal minimum wage is at $ 7.25 an hour, last raised a decade ago. That is way overdue for action. But the House bill to increase the wage level in phases to $ 15 by 2025 may be a bit aggressive, even though it appropriately requires a Government Accountability Office review after the first two increases to determine its impact.
A Congressional Budget Office report last month said that the bill would increase wages for at least 17 million people but likely would result in the loss of 1.3 million jobs. That report gave something to tout to both the Democrats pushing the bill and the Republicans opposing it. The bill passed the House mostly on party lines.
The Raise the Wage Act, embodying a Democratic campaign promise to the working class, would raise the minimum pay to $ 8.40 an hour this year, $ 9.50 next year, and $ 10.60 in 2021. By 2025, it would increase to a level that would pay someone about $ 31,200 a year if he or she worked full time.
The House bill has some good elements, such as eliminating the lower minimum wage for employees who get tips, such as waitresses, and instead having all workers get the federal minimum.
There have been national protests over the past few years with people seeking the $ 15- an- hour minimum wage. Amazon. com and Costco Wholesale Corp. have raised their base pay to $ 15, and Target Corp. is to do so by next year. It’s become a necessity for such retailers to find enough qualified workers in a tight labor market where the national unemployment rate is at a 50year low.
The federal minimum wage needs to be increased. The amount requires further study. An executive
of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, a large business group, said a $ 10- an- hour minimum wage is “imminently doable.” Even McDonald’s Corp. and Walmart Inc., which have tens of thousands of employees paid at or near minimum wage, support raising the federal minimum, though not necessarily to $ 15 an hour.
Republicans in the House tried, unsuccessfully, to amend the bill to exempt businesses with fewer than 10 employees from the higher wage. Since small businesses likely would feel the greatest burden from the bill, some exemption for them would make the legislation more palatable.
President Donald Trump has indicated he would veto the bill, and it seems unlikely it would pass the Republicancontrolled Senate to even get to the president. A similar measure created by a Democrat in the Senate has received no action.
This bill shouldn’t be tossed aside, however. It should be debated in the Senate, and changes should be made over the amount of the minimum wage increases and over which businesses it would apply to. Then, a needed increase in the federal minimum wage should be approved by Congress.