House Education and Labor Committee advances $15 minimum wage

The House Education and Labor Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to advance a Democratic bill that would increase the hourly federal minimum wage to $15, and rejected seven amendments proposed by the GOP minority.

The bill, H.R. 582 (116), would phase in over five years the hike to $15, up from the current $7.25, and would index future hikes to inflation. It would also eliminate existing lower minimums for tipped workers, workers with disabilities and workers under the age of 20.

The top Republican on the committee, Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), derided the measure as a "socialist campaign talking point." Its language, she said, "defies all logic put forth by our last two Democratic presidents."

But Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), in a tweet, congratulated committee Chairman Bobby Scott(D.-Va.) on the bill's committee passage, writing, "A job should lift Americans out of poverty, not keep them in it."

One failed amendment, proposed by Ben Cline (R-Va.), would have prevented any minimum-wage hike should job growth halt or unemployment increase dramatically. Another failed amendment, by Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), would have exempted small businesses with fewer than 10 employees or an annual gross sales volume of less than $1 million.

A third failed amendment, by Rick Allen (R-Ga.), would have allowed a minimum-wage hike for workers under the age of 20 only if the unemployment rate for people aged 16-24 fell below 8 percent. A fourth failed amendment, by Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), would have prevented state and local governments from enacting minimum wage laws that exempt union members.

A fifth failed amendment, from Foxx, would have included the Northern Mariana Islands.

A sixth failed amendment, from Ron Wright (R-Texas), would have required a report to determine whether a minimum-wage hike would result in the loss of more than 500,000 jobs; and a seventh, from Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), would have required a report on whether a minimum-wage increase would result in the loss of more than 200,000 jobs in areas with a median hourly wage of less than $18. Should either report answer in the affirmative, the raise would not have taken affect.

The bill heads next to the House floor, where its passage is expected. The bill faces slimmer odds in the GOP-held Senate, where Republicans are unlikely to accept the hike, and Democrats may be reluctant to bargain ahead of a Senate-packed presidential primary field.