Senator Bernie Sanders has urged Democrats to “ignore” a ruling from the Senate’s parliamentarian that excludes raising the federal hourly minimum wage to $15 from its current $7.25.
The progressive Independent senator from Vermont announced on Monday that he intends to force a Senate vote on an amendment to a coronavirus relief package that includes the wage hike.
“President Biden is disappointed in this outcome, as he proposed having the $15 minimum wage as part of the American Rescue Plan,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on 26 February.
Senator Sanders said that he was “extremely disappointed” with the ruling, “but even more importantly, I regard it as absurd that the parliamentarian, a Senate staffer elected by no one, can prevent a wage increase for 32 million workers.”.
“Obviously, as soon as we can, we must end the filibuster that currently exists in the US Senate,” Mr Sanders said.
Every year after that, the wage would be indexed to median wage growth.
The Economic Policy Institute has found that the minimum wage, if adjusted for inflation, should have exceeded $15 by 2020. »
