Senate Could Modify Filibuster Without Eliminating It, Experts Explain
On 3/2/21 at 4:08 PM EST
With Republicanslargely unified against much of President Joe Biden s agenda, calls from many Democrats to end the Senate s filibuster rule have grown but experts suggest less-nuclear options may still be on the table, although all would chip away at the filibuster s power.
Biden has come out against doing away with the filibuster, saying that he wants to govern in a bipartisan manner and garner the support of Republicans for his legislative priorities. Moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have also voiced their opposition to ending the filibuster, making the possibility of doing so highly unlikely. Ending the filibuster would require all 50 members of the Senate s Democratic caucus to agree assuming no Republicans support the idea and Vice President Kamala Harris would then be able to cast the deciding vote.
Romney, Cotton Acknowledge $10 Minimum Wage Only Close to What Workers Earned in 1968
On 3/1/21 at 10:21 AM EST
Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton acknowledge in a new opinion article that their proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2025 would still fall short of the peak purchasing power minimum wage workers enjoyed back in 1968.
President Joe Biden and progressive Democrats have pushed for raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 in a phased approach. They had hoped to pass the wage hike in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan through the budget reconciliation process. The Senate parliamentarian, however, ruled the wage increase could not go through the complicated process. Meanwhile, Republicans and some moderate Democrats have objected to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.
61 Places Where the Minimum Wage Is Rising in 2021
On 3/1/21 at 7:00 AM EST
A plan by Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage above $7.25 an hour, the rate it s been stuck at since 2009, hit a major snag last week. Depending on where they live, though, minimum wage workers in 61 places across the U.S. will still get a raise this year, courtesy of state and local laws that establish a higher hourly rate than the national benchmark set by Congress.
The fate of the Raise the Wage Act is unclear after the Senate parliamentarian, its chief rule-enforcer, ruled on February 25 that the provision to increase the minimum wage included in President Joe Biden s $1.9 trillion economic relief plan does not meet the guidelines required to move forward in the fast-track process known as budget reconciliation. The House elected to leave the proposed increase in the legislation it passed over the weekend but the parliamentarian s ruling makes it highly unlikely that the minimum-wage hike will
The Raise the Wage Act, reintroduced to Congress on January 26, 2021, proposes incrementally raising the federal minimum wage until it reaches $15 an hour by 2025. Article examines the impact such a minimum wage increase may have on businesses.
SOUTH BEND — Sen. Mike Braun held a roundtable talk with South Bend area restaurants Thursday to hear their concerns about reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic. But they were looking