The Nice Recession had simply formally ended, Barack Obama was getting into solely his seventh month within the White Home and the Black Eyed Peas had been atop the Billboard Sizzling 100 with “I Gotta Feeling.”
That’s what was taking place in America the final time the federal minimal wage was elevated on July 24, 2009 — the final of a collection of hikes signed into legislation by former President George W. Bush in 2007.
Fifteen years later, it stays simply $7.25 per hour, the equal of a $15,000 wage for somebody working full-time.
Quite a bit has occurred on the state and native ranges over the previous decade and a half. A majority of states, together with a number of dominated by Republicans, have bumped their very own minimal wages effectively above the federal charge, with some headed to $15 per hour and past.
“As more time passes or the economy goes south and wage growth slows, the federal minimum wage will have newfound significance.”
And lots of localities have taken issues into their very own fingers, implementing strong minimal wages by means of referendums and native ordinances. A complete of 60 cities and counties will enhance their wage flooring this yr, in line with an evaluation from the Nationwide Employment Legislation Mission, which advocates for increased minimal wages.
Some have even abolished the “tipped” minimal wage, guaranteeing servers and different tipped employees the identical minimal charge as different employees earlier than gratuities.
But the federal minimal wage has seen no motion in any respect, thanks primarily to resistance from Republicans in Congress.
If Donald Trump wins the White Home or Republicans take full or partial management of Congress this fall, the chances of the minimal wage rising anytime quickly will most likely keep near nil.
The federal charge has misplaced a few of its relevance attributable to these state wage will increase in addition to the tight pandemic-era labor market, which pressured employers to bid up wages to retain employees. Even President Joe Biden, who pushed for the next wage ground throughout his 2020 marketing campaign in opposition to Trump, doesn’t speak a lot in regards to the situation nowadays.
Photodisc through Getty Pictures
The federal minimal wage stays a bedrock of labor safety that’s been in place for the reason that New Deal, and it prevails in any state that doesn’t mandate the next one, together with a lot of the South. As extra time passes or the financial system declines and wage development slows, the federal charge may have newfound significance.
Some Republicans have signaled a willingness to bump up the minimal wage, albeit not as excessive as Democrats would really like — and with some strings connected.
GOP Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah) and Tom Cotton (Ark.) proposed a plan in 2021 that will hike the federal wage ground from $7.25 to $10 per hour whereas instituting a nationwide mandate that employers use E-Confirm, the system meant to verify employees aren’t undocumented. Some, however not all, states at the moment require employers to make use of E-Confirm when hiring.
“The federal minimum wage remains a bedrock of labor protection that’s been in place since the New Deal, and it prevails in any state that doesn’t mandate a higher one.”
Many Democrats considered the E-Confirm provision as a poison capsule and the proposed enhance as inadequate. The get together has coalesced round a minimal wage of at the very least $15, a degree most People assist in polling.
Thirty Senate Democrats have co-sponsored a invoice from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that will hike it to $17 over the course of 5 years. Nonetheless, some lawmakers who caucus with Democrats haven’t gotten onboard, together with outgoing Democrat-turned-independent Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.).
The Financial Coverage Institute, a left-leaning assume tank, estimates that almost 30% of Black employees would see a elevate as a result of $17 proposal, together with practically 1 / 4 of Hispanic employees.
It appears extremely unlikely that Trump would endorse a rise ought to he win the White Home once more, although his views on the minimal wage have typically conflicted with each other. Through the years, he has waffled on employees’ wages being both too excessive or too low, and although as a candidate in 2016, he as soon as mentioned he was “looking at” a minimal wage enhance, he later mentioned the coverage ought to be left to the states.
When requested in regards to the situation in a 2016 interview with Fox Information, Trump managed to contradict himself in the identical sentence.
“I would leave it and raise it somewhat,” the then-candidate mentioned. “You need to help people. I know it’s not very Republican to say. But you need to help people.”
