Feb. 5, 2021—On Friday the U.S. Senate agreed to a proposal that would prohibit any minimum wage increase during the pandemic, the New York Times reported.
The Senate endorsed President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package early Friday morning but stopped short of including a nationally mandated $15 minimum wage.
Supporters of raising the wage believe it can still be included in the final plan, forcing a tough vote for Democrats opposed to the increase but who won’t want to vote against the entire stimulus package. But the vote was a signal that the wage increase could be difficult to pass in an evenly split Senate, where at least one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, is on record opposing it, according to the Times.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that Democrats would not give up on trying to raise the wage to $15 an hour even outside the stimulus measure should it be ruled out by the Senate parliamentarian at a later date.
