Minimum Wage News

With inflation at a 40-year high, politicians understandably want to ease the pain. The good news is that federal lawmakers can help by paring back deficit-financed spending and removing government-imposed barriers to work and economic activity. The bad news is that many politicians instead are looking for easy artificial fixes, like temporarily suspending the federal…

Unable to force a $15 federal minimum wage across the entire country, the Biden administration issued an executive order, now implemented, requiring a $15 minimum wage for all federal workers and federal contractors. While the federal government can avoid some of the harmful effects of wage-setting by politicians, this executive order may provide a temporary—though…

Despite repeated setbacks—including opposition from some Democrats—to liberal lawmakers’ deeply flawed push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, proponents continue their desperate search for roundabout ways to force through that mandated nationwide minimum. The first blow came when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a $15 minimum wage could not be included under…

“It is utterly embarrassing that ‘pay people enough to live’ is a stance that’s even up for debate,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently tweeted. “Override the parliamentarian and raise the wage. [McDonald’s] workers in Denmark are paid $22/hr + 6 wks paid vacation. $15/hr is a deep compromise—a big one, considering the phase in.” The most…

Though the Senate parliamentarian rejected their efforts to include a $15-an-hour minimum wage in President Joe Biden’s so-called COVID-19 relief bill, Senate Democrats are scrambling for a way to include it. Their efforts demonstrate the importance of this issue for the progressive left. But should they succeed, would such a measure truly help struggling Americans…

First, the Democrats’ $15 federal hourly minimum wage mandate was ruled out by the Senate’s parliamentarian because it didn’t conform to the rules of the Senate for passing reconciliation bills with a 50-vote threshold. So, Democrats pivoted to a new, even worse plan. They wanted to tax businesses that hire entry-level and lower-skilled workers. They…

Democrats aren’t allowed to attach a provision increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour to their coronavirus relief package, a top Senate official ruled, according to reports. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who oversees the interpretation of the chamber’s rules and precedents, decided Thursday evening that the proposed minimum wage hike couldn’t be included…

House Democrats’ deeply flawed “stimulus” bill includes a provision that would increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour, a policy change that would be extremely harmful. It would kill jobs, increase prices, harm the economic recovery, and even make child care unaffordable for many families. Because Congress is considering the bill under the budget…

As someone who grew up in poverty and worked much of her career to help others out of it, I know the importance of having a good job with a good income. It’s a way out of poverty for many. It allows people to provide for their families. And we all know the sense of…

Some lawmakers’ push to raise the national minimum wage to $15 an hour is “truly maddening,” small business owner Stuart Hornsby says.  Hornsby owns a frozen yogurt shop, a business he built from the ground up in 2013, in a small city in northwest Georgia. With the exception of the manager and a few other…

Restaurant owners and tipped employees alike are expressing concerns over a proposal to raise the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, with one going so far as to say it would amount to a “death knell” for the restaurant industry.   President Joe Biden has called for a $15 an hour minimum wage in his…

Many families struggle to find child care, especially at a cost they can afford. A $15 federal minimum wage could make child care unattainable for millions more families. Higher wages are a great thing, especially for child care workers who serve such an important role in the lives of children and families. But the reality…

Rising incomes are a great thing, and it would be wonderful if all jobs paid at least $15 per hour. After all, that would reduce government welfare spending and give people more freedom and greater financial security. Hence liberal lawmakers’ Raise the Wage Act of 2021 (S. 53), which would incrementally increase the federal minimum…

President Joe Biden has proposed a nationwide $15 minimum wage as part of his so-called “American Rescue Plan.” Talk about bad timing: Raising labor prices on businesses that are struggling to stay afloat is like throwing them a load of bricks instead of a life preserver. State and local governments raising their minimum wages is…

While most of America focuses on the presidential election, some huge issues are being decided in states around the country through ballot measures and propositions. It’s easy to forget as the nation obsesses over who occupies the White House that most policies and laws are set at the state and local level. And given that…

Imagine that your monthly mortgage payment suddenly increased by 50%. And that it happened now, in the wake of COVID-19-related job and income losses. That’s what some policymakers are now suggesting lawmakers should do by raising minimum wages at the worst possible time. As unemployment is high, many jobs have disappeared, and the lowest-wage industries,…

Democrats initially wanted a $15 federal minimum wage, which recently passed in the House of Representatives. Now, some are calling for $20 per hour. Both policies would backfire on Americans in a major way. The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that if the $15 minimum wage became law, up to 3.7 million jobs could be…

Before lawmakers left for August recess, the Democrat-controlled House voted to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Such a move would backfire in a major way if passed into law. It would hurt lower-skilled individuals the most, including teenagers, immigrants, and those without a high school degree. And women, who hold more…

The House voted 231-199 Thursday to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour over six years, with Democrats contending the bill would raise wages for millions of Americans. “If the advocates of this legislation really cared about American workers, they would not fire them,” Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said on the…