03.06.19

By: Sean Higgins
Source: Washington Examiner

Democrats advance $15 minimum federal wage bill

Democrats advanced a bill Wednesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over three years, more than twice its current rate of $7.25. The House Education and Labor Committee passed the legislation on a 28-20 partly-line vote.

"Today, the Committee took an important step toward lifting millions of American workers out poverty by raising the minimum wage for the first time in nearly a decade ... I am proud that we have advanced a bill that will benefit workers and communities across the country," said Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Va.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-Va., the committee's top Republican, called the legislation "blatantly socialist." If would "hammer" small businesses, she argued, forcing them to cut back on hiring and hours, without benefiting workers.

"What happened to liberal pragmatism?" asked Foxx. "There is no sense to this. We are here to mark up a socialist talking point."

The legislation now heads to the full House. Should it pass there, it is unlikely to be taken up by the Republican-controlled Senate.

[Opinion: I’m a restaurant employee in a city with a $15 minimum wage; here’s how it’s hurt me]

Democrats have long tried to raise the minimum wage, but previously sought more marginal increases. President Obama pushed for an increase to just $10.10 in 2015. Hillary Clinton called for an increase to $12 during her 2016 presidential bid.

At the time, Democrats argued that would boost take-home pay for workers without putting too much strain on businesses. Privately, some worried that liberals were setting the target too high, and that a much higher minimum wage would damage the economy. "[Y]ou will get a fair number of liberal economists who will say it will lose jobs," Clinton campaign adviser Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, told Clinton's campaign in a leaked April 2015 email.

State-level efforts in California, New York and elsewhere to raise their minimum wages to $15 have since pushed Democrats to aim higher. They see it as an key issue where they can separate themselves from Congressional Republicans, who have traditionally opposed increases.