Democrats propose raising the minimum wage to $ 15 per hour nationwide | The State
Democrats had already proposed raising the minimum wage in 2019, but it was never discussed in the Senate.
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Democrats in the House and Senate reintroduced a bill to raise the U.S. minimum wage to $ 15 an hour. The legislation proposes to gradually increase the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour nationwide by 2025.
The measure would also eliminate payments that are below the minimum wage for workers who receive tips, along with certain jobs that are given to adolescents and people with disabilities.
The Democratic party has long lobbied to raise the federal minimum wage, which has stagnated at $ 7.25 an hour since 2009. On Tuesday, lawmakers pushing the bill said it is more urgent now to pass it, as the coronavirus pandemic has left millions of people doing essential work for low pay.
“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal minimum wage of $ 7.25 was economically and morally indefensible,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, said in a statement. according to CNBC.
“Now, the pandemic is highlighting the huge imbalance between the productivity of our nation’s workers and the wages they are paid,” Scott added.
The House of Representatives, where Democrats were in the majority, had already passed a version of the bill to raise the minimum wage in 2019, but it was never voted in the Senate, as it was controlled by the Republican party.
However, Democrats now have a majority in the Senate as well as the House of Representatives, so it could be easier for this law to finally pass.
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