President Joe Biden privately admitted to Democrat mayors and governors last week that a planned hike in the federal minimum wage is “dead” and that it will not be included in the forthcoming COVID-19 relief bill, Politico reports.
Democrats had demanded that a gradual hike, ending at a $15 minimum wage across the country in 2025, be part of the Biden administration’s coronavirus relief package, already estimated to cost taxpayers in the range of $2 trillion.
But with few Republicans on board with passing yet another trillion-dollar bailout for the victims of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its associated economic lockdowns, Democrats may have no choice but to pass the bill through a process called “reconciliation,” which allows “budget-focused” legislation to pass by a simple majority vote, rather than the 60 votes required for sweeping changes to federal law.
The Biden administration has been mum on whether the final COVID-19 relief bill would have the minimum wage hike, but the president himself reportedly told Democrat governors at a meeting last week that there’s little chance the hike will pass — at least, it will not pass as part of the coronavirus bill. – READ MORE
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