Democrats Increase Minimum Wage How Much?
This has caused a lot of controversy.
On Thursday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, presented a plan to increase the national minimum wage to $17 per hour.
According to The Hill, Senator Sanders stated that the committee will initiate the process of amending the bill on June 14th and aims to advance it to the Senate floor for consideration.
Sanders stated, “It is time to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. As chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, that is exactly what I intend to see happen.”
Senator Sanders is reviving his efforts to increase the national minimum wage, more than two years after a proposal to incorporate a $15-an-hour minimum wage into the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was defeated by a 58-42 vote, with eight Senate Democrats and all Republicans opposing it. The American Rescue Plan was signed into law by President Biden in March 2021.
According to Senator Sanders, due to inflation, a $15-an-hour wage in 2021 is equivalent to a $17-an-hour wage in 2023. He made this statement on Thursday.
The national minimum wage was last increased by Congress in 2007 and has remained at $7.25 per hour since July 2009.
Sanders explained, “Nobody in this country can survive on $7.25 an hour. Maybe some of my colleagues in Congress might want to live for a month on $7.25 an hour and see what’s that like.”
Senator Sanders pointed out that 13 states have passed laws to establish a $15-an-hour minimum wage, with even Republican-leaning states like Nebraska adopting it. Nebraska’s minimum wage will increase to $15 an hour in 2026.
“This is not a red issue, not a blue issue, it’s an American issue,” Sanders added.
