Democrats in the U.S. Senate continue to try to find a way to include a minimum wage increase in a comprehensive COVID-19 relief bill they aim to advance in coming weeks, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday. "We're trying to work as well as we can with the parliamentarian to get minimum wage to happen" as part of the legislation, Schumer told reporters. Special Senate rules limit the kinds of initiatives that can be included in a bill in order to speed it through the chamber without the support of Republicans.
Economics In One Lesson: Minimum Wage‐Federal Finances Edition SHARE
The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.
That is the key takeaway from Henry Hazlitt’s classic book
Economics In One Lesson. In the past week, we’ve seen a clear example of policymakers failing to appreciate that lesson when advocating for a $15 minimum wage increase.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I‐Vt) is leading the legislative charge for the $15‐per‐hour federal minimum wage. But rather than just support it on the grounds of raising the pay rate of certain workers, he has previously claimed that the wage floor hike would improve the federal finances too. By increasing wage rates, he said, the federal government would need to pay out less on food stamps, public housing, and other means‐tested programs. Alo
President Joe Biden claims that following talks with Congress, his plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour is unlikely to make it into the full $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill.
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office says a $15/hour minimum wage would increase the deficit by $54 billion over ten years, cut employment by 1.4 million & lift 900,000 out of poverty.