The Latest: House OKs minimum wage hike, Senate chances dim
Posted July 18, 2019 9:12 am.
WASHINGTON — The Latest on legislation to raise the federal minimum wage (all times local):
12:05 p.m.
The House has approved legislation to raise the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, to $15 an hour.
Democrats pushed through the bill Thursday with a party-line vote of 231-199, but it has almost no chance in the Republican-controlled Senate.
A hike in the $7.25 hourly wage has been a top Democratic campaign promise. It’s intended to address income inequality that’s driving the 2020 political debate. The legislation, for the first time, would pay tipped workers the same as others earning the minimum, boosting their pay to $15 an hour, too. It’s now $2.13.
Republicans balked at the wage hike, saying it would cost jobs. States are already able to raise the wage beyond the federal minimum, and many have done so.
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11 a.m.
For the first time in a decade, the House is set to approve an increase in the federal minimum wage — to $15 an hour, including for tipped workers.
Passage was expected Thursday after centrists won concessions for a slower phase-in, over six years instead of five. They also won assurances the pay hike could be halted midway if a study shows job losses or other adverse effects.
A minimum wage hike has been a top Democratic campaign promise, intended to address income inequality that’s driving the 2020 political debate. Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said raising the wage is the “right thing to do.”
Some 30 million workers would see bigger paychecks, according to a budget report.
The Associated Press
