BE BOLD, DEMOCRATS. SLAM THROUGH THE $15 WAGE HIKE

Let’s stop kidding ourselves. Republicans will never agree to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. Democrats must do it themselves while they can.

Essential workers, those hailed as saviors for keeping America afloat amid a once-in-acentury pandemic, are once again simply unskilled folks not worth even $15 per hour.

That pretty much sums up the attitude of those against raising the federal minimum hourly wage from $7.25 to $15 for millions of workers by 2025.

That proposal is part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, which is drawing stiff opposition from conservatives who say the country can’t afford it.

It can. They just don’t think it is worth borrowing that astronomical amount for those

out of work, struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.

The legislation requires a super majority, or least 60 votes, in the Senate. Democrats have a slight majority in the House and a 50-50 split in the Senate.

Democrats are ready to use a parliamentary tool known as budget reconciliation to get the spending plan through — if not enough Republicans come on board. But they’ll have to decide whether to also to include the minimum wage hike, which takes us back to debating the merits of a livable wage.

How can anyone in good conscience argue that earning $7.25 an hour or roughly $15,000 a year pays the bills?

It’s laughable. Yet, this is exactly what millions of people in the United States earn since the feds last increased the minimum wage in 2009.

Why is $15 an hour so critical? The Congressional Budget Office estimated in July 2019, before the pandemic, that it be enough to boost the wages of 17 million workers, though 1.3 million would lose their jobs as a result of the hike.

Meanwhile, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute estimated during the pandemic that “gradually raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift pay for nearly 32 million workers — 21% of the U.S. workforce.” That’s a lot of people.

But doubling the federal minimum wage is just asking too much, argues Michael R. Strain of the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. In his view, the boost in productivity selling point of the wage hike could be counterproductive for workers.

“Higher labor costs would make it more advantageous for some firms to invest in labor-saving technology. For example, automated checkout machines,” he wrote in Bloomberg. “Some firms might hire more educated or skilled workers following a hike in the wage floor — they might no longer be willing to hire high-school dropouts, and could attempt to recruit high-school graduates instead.”

Strain further argues that one way to get around forcing employers to pay more is boosting workers’ skills through “apprenticeships, combine classroom learning and credentialing with on-thejob training.”

In addition, he argues, “some sectorfocused training programs have shown the potential to generate persistent earnings gains for workers, particularly when they focus on skills that are transferable and certifiable.”

Well, you don’t need an economist to tell you that training leads to better paying jobs. The problem is that isn’t happening at a rate necessary to get millions out of poverty.

The question isn’t whether minimum-wage earners should boost their skills, but rather if they should get paid more than $7.25 for their current jobs doing everything from picking up produce to delivering food to waitressing.

Thankfully, 29 states and D.C. already have wages higher than the federal minimum, and seven have bumped it to $15, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Arizona, the minimum wage jumped this year to $12.15 per hour, thanks to the 2016 voterapproved Propositon 206.

Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 is the right thing to do to help millions out of poverty. And phasing the hike over a few years would help small businesses adjust to it — easing the blow that conservatives say would be dealt to mom-and-pop establishments.

But let’s not kid ourselves. Republicans will never agree to any type of wage hike. It’s just impossible to legislate greed.

Therefore, Democrats must move fast with the COVID-19 stimulus plan that includes the $15 hour wage hike to help Americans struggling financially.