65 Billion Reasons the Senate Can Pass a $15 Minimum Wage by Reconciliation

[Donkees]

Now is the time to raise the minimum wage to $15, pull millions out of poverty, and provide small-business support to make it happen.

Yes. The Democratic Congress can and must fulfill President Biden's promise to the American people.

Let's get it done.

Link to tweet

BY MICHAEL REICH
February 4, 2021 at 5:00 am ET

Congress has not raised the $7.25 federal minimum wage since 2009, despite cost of living rising by more than 20 percent since the last increase. Although a raise for American workers is clearly overdue, congressional Republicans remain as opposed as ever. But their votes may not be needed for lawmakers to raise the country’s pay floor to $15 an hour.

One way to raise the federal floor without any support from Republicans is gaining steam: an arcane process called budget reconciliation requires only 51 votes in the Senate. Senate Democratic leaders, led by Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, want to use this process to pass the Raise the Wage Act of 2021, which would increase the federal minimum wage to $9.50 this year and then gradually to $15 by 2025.

As an economist who has long conducted and published causal studies of minimum wage effects, including on federal and state budgets, I already know that a federal $15 minimum would substantially affect federal revenues and expenditures. I recently assembled what the established economics research literature tells us about the likely budgetary effects of the Raise the Wage Act. I conservatively estimate that a $15 federal minimum wage in 2025 would have a positive effect on the federal budget to the tune of $65.4 billion per year.

Wage increases for low-wage workers will add to payroll and income tax revenues– about $21.2 billion per year. This total includes $5 billion from workers who will delay their retirement. Wage increases will also lead to savings on means-tested safety net programs that phase out as incomes rise. The savings to food stamps, welfare, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Childcare Tax Credit will total about $32 billion per year. These findings are well-known among minimum wage economists.

https://morningconsult.com/opinions/65-billion-reasons-the-senate-can-pass-a-15-minimum-wage-by-reconciliation/

[Faux pas]

1. Kickin' with gusto!

[jorgevlorgan]

2. When does the parliamentarian weigh in on this?

[Donkees]

3. After ''the Byrd bath''

Senior Democratic and Republican aides will soon present their arguments to the parliamentarian on whether provisions should be kept or eliminated from the COVID-relief package in a series of meetings nicknamed “the Byrd bath.”

New leadership atop the Senate Budget Committee, which has jurisdiction over reconciliation, is complicating the process. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the new chairman of the panel, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is the new ranking member.

Graham said Wednesday he needs to have additional meetings with staff before deciding on a strategy to challenge Democrats on their budget reconciliation plans.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/537269-little-known-senate-referee-to-play-major-role-on-biden-relief-plan

[Donkees]

4. We are delighted & excited that @Bill_Dauster will be our Chief Counsel for Senate Budget Committee

We are delighted & excited that @Bill_Dauster will be our Chief Counsel for Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders. Bill is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of budget reconciliation & the Byrd Rule. And, more than that, he is a kind and gentle soul. May the force be with us. Let's go!

Link to tweet

[Donkees]

6. Top budget expert makes case for minimum wage in reconciliation

A leading authority on federal budget law and Senate rules is making the case that raising the federal minimum wage can be done through budget reconciliation, which would allow the legislation to pass on a simple majority vote rather than requiring the support of 60 senators as is typical.

Bill Dauster, who served as deputy chief of staff for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., wrote in a guest op-ed for CQ Roll Call published Friday that there's enough budgetary impact associated with a minimum wage boost to at least warrant consideration from the Senate parliamentarian, who typically adjudicates which provisions will qualify.

Dauster, who was also a longtime Democratic aide on the Senate Finance and Budget panels, goes on to say that if the parliamentarian disagrees that the minimum wage can be raised through reconciliation, the presiding officer of the Senate is “empowered to make this call."

https://www.rollcall.com/2021/01/22/top-budget-expert-makes-case-for-minimum-wage-in-reconciliation/

[George II]

11. Dauster isn't the Chief Counsel for Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, he is.....

Chief Counsel for Senate Budget COMMITTEE, period. It's a committee.

[Celerity]

5. Biden doesn't think a $15 minimum wage will make it into law as part of COVID relief

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215060631

[SheltieLover]

7. But Sanders & Manchin voted against $15/ hour

[George II]

8. As we say in New York, "go figure!"

[SheltieLover]

10. BS wasn't my candidate choice, but didn't he campaign on $15/hr min wage?

[Donkees]

12. 'The Senate did NOT block a $15 minimum wage. It passed the $1.9 trillion Sanders Resolution ... '

The Senate did NOT block a $15 minimum wage. It passed the $1.9 trillion Sanders Resolution that will allow the Senate to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and provide immediate economic relief to working class families through reconciliation.

Link to tweet

In a surprise, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., supported Ernst’s amendment, which is nonbinding. He spoke on the amendment to clarify that his plan, detailed in the Raise the Wage Act, is to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to reach $15 an hour in 2025 — not immediately increase wages during the pandemic.

“I will support this amendment because nobody is talking about doubling the federal minimum wage during the pandemic,” he said. “We’re talking about gradually phasing it in over a five-year period.”

He also said that he will do everything he can to make sure that a $15 federal minimum wage is ultimately included in the budget reconciliation bill. To pass in budget reconciliation in the Senate, however, it would require the unanimous support of all 50 Democratic senators. Currently, it does not have all the votes it would need to pass — Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia opposes it.

Still, the push to approve legislation raising the federal minimum wage is far from over. On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during a news conference that a $15 minimum wage is a very high priority for Democrats.

“It doesn’t mean it won’t happen just because it won’t happen there,” she said. “There’s so much in the package that has to be done right now, and we’ll do the best we can.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/05/a-15-minimum-wage-is-out-of-the-latest-stimulus-package-for-now.html

[Donkees]

13. ...

Link to tweet

[George II]

9. Notes to Bernie:

1. President Biden proposed a raise to $15 per hour by 2025. You proposed it by 2026.
2. What's the minimum wage in Vermont?