$15 minimum wage in virus relief package may jeopardize plan

GOP moderates want increase scaled back, considered separately

President Joe Biden is weighing whether to keep a national $15-an-hour minimum wage in his $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.

With moderate GOP senators objecting to the increase, the president has to balance the benefits of a hike against the danger of losing support for the COVID-19 relief effort.

Biden backed the $15 hourly wage during his presidential campaign, and progressives are urging him to keep it in the sprawling relief package, which includes another round of direct payments to individuals.

But some GOP moderates oppose the hike during an economic downturn, arguing that businesses should be encouraged to add as many workers as possible. They also oppose including measures not directly related to the pandemic.

They are warning that including it in the COVID-19 relief package could be a poison pill that would cause them to vote against the entire plan.

“The more you throw into this bucket of COVID relief that’s not really related to the crisis, the more you risk the credibility with the American people that you’re really sincere about the crisis,” said Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a key Senate moderate, said the $15 minumum wage “complicates” the relief measure.

If all Republicans vote against the package, all 50 Democrats would need to support it. They would also need approval from the parliamentarian to use a legislative procedure known as reconciliation.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., says that’s exactly what Democrats should do, reminding reporters that the GOP used the maneuver to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and a failed effort to kill Obamacare.

“You know what? I think we can use reconciliation to protect the needs of working families,” Sanders said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate will start work next week on getting the COVID-19 relief bill passed using the reconciliation process. He hopes to win passage by March, but reaching that goal will be more difficult without any GOP support.

The minimum wage provision would gradually increase the lowest allowable wage from its current $7.25 per hour. It has not been raised since 2009.

Some opponents argue that a large increase in the minimum wage would lead many employers to cut their payrolls.

“There’s no question that raising the minimum wage, especially to $15, will put some small businesses out of business and will cost a lot of low-wage workers their jobs,” said Neil Bradley, the chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union, argues that increasing the minimum wage is directly related to the pandemic because it would benefit those workers on the front lines of fighting the coronavirus.

“They’ve been called essential, but they all believe they’ve been treated as expendable,” Henry said. “They don’t earn enough to be able to put food on the table and keep themselves and their families safe and healthy.”