Democratic Lawmakers Look to Raise Minimum Wage

Could $10 per hour be on the horizon? Or does such a move carry political risk for the 2014 elections?

November 11, 2013

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are “weighing when to consider a bill … from $7.25 to as much as $10.10 per hour,” Politico reported last week, speculating that a proposal could come prior to Thanksgiving.

Late last week, senators and their aides were privy to a presentation by economists who explained that since 1968, wages have not kept pace with inflation  (the $1.60 federal minimum wage then represented 54% of Americans’ average hourly earnings, which has decreased ever since). Those in attendance were “overwhelmingly supportive” of raising the minimum wage, Politico said, while acknowledging it will be difficult to recruit five Senate Republicans to support the wage hike (60 votes will be needed to break a likely GOP filibuster).

At the same time, Democrats have yet to pinpoint a new minimum wage. Senator Tom Harkin has a bill that would raise wages incrementally to $10.10 an hour while also boosting wages for tipped workers and eventually tying in the former to inflation numbers.

Congress last passed a new minimum wage in 2007, which included tax cuts for small businesses.

Senator Dick Durbin said senators are trying to coordinate a plan with President Obama, who has called for a wage hike to $9 per hour.

“We’re all kind of in the $10 range, virtually all of us,” Durbin said. “The explanation here suggested that [Obama] would be very supportive of $10.”

The timing of such a bill remains shaky, as the legislation could affect the 2014 elections.

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