Senate awaits parliamentarian’s minimum wage regulation

“We are waiting, as we all are, to hear from the Senate MP what will happen to the minimum wage legislation,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., California) told reporters on Thursday. “I feel like we have a very, very strong argument and that in our country we have a very strong need to reach the minimum wage.”

The increase in the minimum wage is the most divisive issue in the aid package, broadly behind the Democrats. The package would also bring in $ 1,400 payment to many Americans; expand and improve federal unemployment assistance; send $ 350 billion in aid to state and local governments; and pour new funding into the distribution of vaccines, food stamps and schools.

The Democratic and Republican staff presented their arguments to the MP on the minimum wage scheme on Wednesday morning and have been waiting for her recommendation ever since.

“I know we all use pins and needles,” said Texas Senator John Cornyn, a member of the Senate GOP leadership. “I think the correct statement would be to say that the budget process cannot be used to pass substantive legislation.”

Democrats use a process called reconciliation to pass the aid package with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes required for most legislation. But reconciliation also comes with the Senate’s rules on what proposals can be approved under the special procedure, including linking the provision directly to the budget. The measure must be determined to have a meaningful tax impact that cannot be subordinate to the policy proposal.

If Ms MacDonough finds that the minimum wage increase is eligible for inclusion in the package, Democrats will have to agree among themselves on how to structure it.

While many Democrats, including the progressive wing of the party, have embraced raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, several senators have doubts about the plan. Some are concerned about the impact the increase could have on small businesses and restaurants. Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), the party’s most prominent moderate, has said he would try to change the pay increase to $ 11 an hour. Other lawmakers have explored whether small businesses could offer tax breaks or slow down the wage increase for smaller businesses.

“To spend $ 15 there now is going to be very difficult in rural America, we have small businesses,” said Mr. Manchin.

Mr Biden has said he expects the MP to say that the increase in the minimum wage cannot be part of the bill.

In a nod to that possibility, Ms. Pelosi indicated that the House would consider the minimum wage legislation separately if it is not included in the Stool Act.

“We will pay a minimum wage,” she said. However, legislation outside of the reconciliation process requires 60 votes in the Senate, where Republicans have criticized the $ 15 proposal as harmful to businesses.

If Democrats get the go-ahead from the MP, they’ll have a few weeks to reach a compromise between their ranks and pass the bill before federal unemployment programs expire in mid-March. With the Senate in a 50-50 split, Vice President Kamala Harris can cut ties, but the Democrats can’t lose any of the legislatures.

If the MP indicates that the minimum wage is inadequate, the Democrats face a different set of decisions. Some progressives have said they would press the White House and Senate lawmakers to ignore her ruling. Several senators have said they would be uncomfortable bending the chamber’s rules to raise the minimum wage, as did White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain Wednesday night.

Ignoring the MP is “not something we will do,” Mr Klain said on MSNBC. “We will work within Senate rules and make sure the bill is passed.”

Republicans have argued that the package provides assistance that is unnecessary and unrelated to the pandemic.

“This bill is actually too expensive, too corrupt and too liberal,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., California) said on Fox News Thursday.

Republicans have said they are in favor of raising the minimum wage, but have their own differences on how to do it.

On Thursday, GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Rob Portman of Ohio adhere to GOP Sens legislation. Mitt Romney of Utah and Tom Cotton of Arkansas who would raise the minimum wage to $ 10 an hour over four years, starting as soon as the pandemic ends, and requiring all employers to use E-Verify, which allows them to check the immigration status of potential employees .

“This framework balances the needs of employers with opportunities for employees,” Ms. Capito said in a statement, saying the GOP law showed that “there are long-term solutions that can be brought forward and discussed outside of a partisan process. is doubtful. merit in its implementation in the name of Covid relief. “

Earlier this week, Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) said he planned to introduce legislation that would grant a quarterly tax credit to workers earning below the average wage of $ 16.50 an hour, which would be indexed to inflation. The credit would be worth 50% of the difference between the employee’s hourly wage and median wage for up to 40 hours of work per week.

Health care subsidies and support for multi-employer pensions are among the other issues that the MP will soon be able to decide on. The bill subsidizes 85% of health insurance premium costs through Cobra, which most employers are required to provide to employees they have recently laid off, and provides relief from the hard-to-reach multi-employer pensions.

In addition to removing measures that face procedural challenges, Democrats are also looking to change the bill by adding new tax measures to increase revenues and keep the total price at $ 1.9 trillion, an assistant said.

The debate about raising the minimum wage has put Ms MacDonough back in the spotlight. A former library clerk and Senate trial attorney, she has worked in the MP’s office since 1999. As both sides rely on the reconciliation process to pass legislation by simple majority, the MPs’ statements have played a significant role in major legislative efforts, including the Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Write to Kristina Peterson at [email protected] and Andrew Duehren at [email protected]