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Updated
Feb 12, 2021
COVID-19 Makes A $15 Minimum Wage Critical
The vast majority of Democrats want to put a pay hike in the pandemic relief bill. All the evidence is in their favor.
By Emily Peck
Illustration: HuffPost; Photo: Getty Images
Before the pandemic, it was hard to argue against raising the minimum wage. Now denying a raise to the lowest-paid workers in the United States, deemed essential, seems inhumane.
Yet just this week, the Congressional Budget Office offered up ammunition to opponents of raising worker pay. The federal agency, which is supposed to deliver nonpartisan analysis to Congress, released a report looking at the budget impact of gradually lifting the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour over the next four years. President Joe Biden wants to include this minimum wage hike in the upcoming COVID-19 relief bill being hashed out in Congress though the measure’s chances look iffy because of the Senate’s procedural rules.
House Dems Propose $1,400 Payments As Part Of Biden s Virus Relief Plan
The proposal would also expand tax credits for families with children, lower-earning people and those who buy health insurance on marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act.
WASHINGTON (AP) Democrats on a pivotal House panel have proposed an additional $1,400 in direct payments to individuals, bolstered unemployment benefits and more generous tax breaks for families with children and for lower earners as Congress began piecing together a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package on Monday.
The plan is expected to closely follow President Joe Biden’s proposed package to address the tolls of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed over 460,000 Americans, and the nation’s still staggering economy, which has lost 10 million jobs since the crisis began last year. Biden, less than three weeks into his presidency, has declared that defeating the virus and fixing the economy are his top priorities.