Gov. John Bel Edwards wrote to Louisiana’s Congressional Delegation, encouraging its members to support a meaningful increase in the federal minimum wage as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan for COVID-19 relief.
That plane may be voted on as early as this week in Congress.
“Families are the foundation of our communities. Investing in the success of Louisiana families means investing in our success as a state. It means investing in opportunities. It is unconscionable that one of our fellow citizens could work 40 hours a week for an entire year and make barely enough to be considered above the poverty line. This is not prosperity. This is not the American Dream. I challenge anyone opposed to raising the minimum wage to imagine trying to support a family on only $15,080 – it’s simply not possible,” Gov. Edwards wrote.
According to the Associated Press, Republicans are closing ranks against Democrats’ proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. And even as they do, the White House is seeming to rule out a procedural power play in the Senate to protect one of the measure's provisions most treasured by progressives: a minimum wage hike.
Democrats plan to push the sweeping package through the House on Friday. They were hoping the Senate would follow quickly enough to have legislation on President Joe Biden’s desk by mid-March. But the big suspense is over whether the nonpartisan parliamentarian will decide if the minimum wage plan can stay in the bill and enjoy its protection against a GOP filibuster.
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