Senate Unable to Pass Minimum Wage Bill
Senate Votes 54-43, Tax Addition to Be Proposed
The House of Representatives passed a bill that would raise minimum wage from $5.15/hour to $7.25/hour by the year 2009 through to the Senate on the 11th of January, 2007. The Senate voted on the bill, but was unable to get the 60 votes needed to pass.
In the 2nd session of the 109th Congress, 43 Republican Senators voted against the bill because there were no tax breaks to accompany the minimum wage increase. The Senate has now begun to propose a bill that would still increase the minimum wage to $7.25/hour (in 26 months, this time), but that would also offer tax benefits in the sum of $8.3 billion to businesses.
Even though tax bills are supposed to originate in the House, Senators have introduced this bill, anyway. This will only cause more time between now and when the minimum wage increase is signed into law.
Those who oppose the tax benefits cite as their reasoning their belief that the additions were made under a false conviction that a rise in minimum wage will negatively affect small businesses.
Many states have taken the matter of minimum wage into their own hands. Twenty-eight states plus the District of Columbia all have minimum wages above the federal standard. A study conducted in these states has shown that they are prospering since their increase.
Ten years ago marked the last time there was a minimum wage increase. In those same ten years, Congress has voted eight times to increase their own earnings. Currently, half of the middle class makes less than $35,000 annually.
Two Senators did not participate in this vote, and in opposition to the majority of their party, eight Republicans voted for the passing of the bill. Among those Senators who opposed the bill are Presidential candidate Senator Sam Brownback, potential Presidential candidate with an exploratory committee Senator John McCain, and potential Presidential candidate who has not yet opened an exploratory committee Senator Chuck Hagel.
To view a detailed list of the roll-call, visit the official page of the U.S. Senate.
The new bill with tax benefits is expected to receive a vote in the coming weeks.
Published by J Gorman
A recent graduate from Penn State University, J. Gorman is currently working for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentIt seems so strange that the senators are not taking into account the fact that higher wages mean that families will spend more money on goods and services. It seems as if they have big business in mind but not their constituents. Here in California, we have a recent increase to $7.50 per hour and this is expected to go up to $8 fairly soon. It's ridiculous to expect families to survive on less than $10,000 a year (minus taxes).
disgraceful