Reprinted from The Hill by Niv Elis on January 26, 2021.
Democrats in both chambers of Congress on Tuesday reintroduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage for the first time since 2009, setting a $15 an hour target by 2025.
That level would be more than double the current rate of $7.25 an hour, which was approved in 2007 and set in place two years later.
“Let’s be clear: The $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage,” said incoming Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). …
Even with the Senate under narrow Democratic control, however, its prospects appear slim. The Senate cannot pass a minimum wage increase without the support of 10 Republicans to break a filibuster. …
