President-elect Joe Biden’s plan for pandemic relief contains a $15 minimum wage mandate which Congress has estimated would lead to the loss of 1.3 million jobs.
Biden introduced the minimum wage provision in a speech laying out his priorities for a tax-payer funded stimulus package to tackle the damage wreaked on the economy by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the coronavirus.
According to a July 2019 estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, raising the federal minimum wage to $15 would lead to the loss of 1.3 million jobs while boosting the wages of 17 million workers.
“People tell me that’s going to be hard to pass. Florida just passed it. As divided as that state is, they just passed it. The rest of the country is ready to move as well,” Biden said.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was less enthusiastic about the bill’s prospects.
“President-Elect Biden served in the Senate for over 35 years. So he knows the plan he outlined tonight can’t pass ‘quickly’ & will delay the 2k for hard-hit Americans. Let’s get the extra money to people first,” Rubio wrote on Twitter. Read more…
