Minimum Wage

Democrats’ hopes of including a minimum wage increase in their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill seemed all but dead Monday as the Senate prepared to debate its own version of the House-passed aid package.

Progressive lawmakers are pushing the White House to override a decision last week by the Senate parliamentarian and include a federal minimum wage increase in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

The plan, introduced last week by Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden and Senate Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders, included tax penalties on large corporations that fail to pay $15 an hour and incentives for the "smallest of small businesses" to encourage them to raise their wages.

Progressive Democrats launched a last-minute campaign urging the White House to overrule a top Senate official who decided late Thursday night that a federal minimum wage increase could not be included in the coronavirus relief package.

Democrats are looking for ways to include a $15 minimum wage hike in their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package after the Senate Parliamentarian said it does not fit the rules to be passed via the budget reconciliation process on Thursday night.

The Senate Parliamentarian said on Thursday night that a federal minimum wage hike to $15 per hour does not fit the criteria to be included in the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, a source confirmed to FOX Business.

Costco will raise its minimum wage to $16 an hour starting next week, CEO Craig Jelinek said.

Progressives are threatening to withhold support for the COVID relief package if the measure doesn't include a long-sought minimum wage increase. 

With millions around the country calling for a $15 minimum wage, small business owners fear their businesses will be crippled while minimum wage workers have hope for better days ahead.

Sen. Josh Hawley unveiled a new proposal on Wednesday that would use taxpayer money to increase the income of low-earning Americans.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is expected to introduce right-to-work legislation on Wednesday, arguing on “Mornings with Maria” that it will benefit the whole country.

Republican Sens. Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton unveiled a proposal on Tuesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2025.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Saturday said he is "confident" the Senate parliamentarian will endorse a $15 federal minimum wage requirement through reconciliation.

President Biden's top economic adviser Brian Deese downplayed a recent report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that found raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2025 would cost the economy about 1.4 million jobs.

President Biden told a group of political leaders that he does not see the proposed minimum wage hike passing as he prepares to use reconciliation to pass his coronavirus relief bill, a source present during the discussion confirmed to FOX Business.

The National Restaurant Association sent a letter to congressional leaders Tuesday urging them against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, saying that it would force businesses to cut jobs, decrease hours, increase menu prices, and close down altogether in some cases. 

The effort to push through the $15 an hour minimum wage is facing an unexpected roadblock: President Biden himself.

A $15 minimum wage would “destroy capitalism” by denying young people the “first rung on the ladder of economic opportunity, Foundation for Economic Education opinion editor Brad Polumbo warned on Monday.

The $15 federal minimum wage increase proposed by Democrats will lead to higher child care costs for many families as child care providers pass on the costs of higher wages to parents, according to an analysis from the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday reiterated her push for President Biden to unilaterally cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt.