Democrats Shelve Minimum Wage Tax to Speed Work on Stimulus
- Democrats face March 14 deadline, when some benefits run out
- Progressives made minimum wage one of their top priorities
This article is for subscribers only.
Senate Democrats are jettisoning a proposal to use the tax code to penalize corporations that don’t raise the minimum wage for their lowest-paid workers in an effort to keep President Joe Biden’s broader stimulus plan on track for quick passage, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Democrats were left seeking alternatives after the Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief legislation failed to qualify under fast-track budget rules that Democrats are using to pass the stimulus without Republican support.