Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Tuesday declared their own bill that would leverage the minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2025. This is counter to the Democrat's push for an hourly minimum wage rise of $15.
Minimum Wage Increase to $10
The bill is named the Higher Wages for American Workers Act. Cotton and Romney's bill would gradually leverage the federal minimum wage over four years. This is while tightening enforcement on hiring illegal immigrants to affirm that the wage boost is only allocated to legal workers.
Democratic lawmakers have made efforts to include the minimum wage increase in President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief package. They argued that the $7.25 minimum wage is too little to provide financial support to working Americans and their families. Republicans have objected and contended it would hurt small businesses and lead to greater unemployment.
According to Romney in a statement, "For millions of Americans, the rising cost of living has made it harder to make ends meet, but the federal minimum wage has not been increased in more than 10 years. Our legislation would raise the floor for workers without costing jobs ... automatically raising it every two years to match the state of inflation," reported Conservative Daily News.
Romney also sharply denounced President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion economic relief as wasteful, excessive, and short of bipartisanship during a New York Times DealBook Policy Project conference on Tuesday evening. According to Romney, "Not a lot is happening behind the scenes that involves Republicans. I think the Democratic leadership has determined that they want to push through the plan without any changes to it whatsoever, and without any input from Republicans and because it'll be done through budget reconciliation, they don't need any of our votes," reported Yahoo News.
Also Read: House Democrats Reveal a $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill That Includes Minimum Wage Increase
The two senators are proposing to raise the federal minimum wage. However, it is on the condition that businesses are required to use the internet-based E-Verify system designated to alleviate employers from hiring undocumented workers.
The measure was unveiled on Tuesday morning and is not likely to go far in a Democratic-controlled Congress pushing for a $15 minimum wage. However, Romney and Cotton's bill represents the most serious Republican proposal yet on an issue that has surfaced as a key priority for progressive leaders.
According to both senators, their proposal provides a dual benefit for US workers: raising the pay floor for the first time in over a decade and affirming that documented employees would be the recipients.
Republicans oppose the stimulus package as too massive overall. According to Cotton, American workers nowadays compete against millions of illegal immigrants for a small number of jobs with too low wages, and that is unfair.
According to Romney as well, "Our legislation would raise the floor for workers without costing jobs," Romney said. "We must create opportunities for American workers and protect their jobs, while also eliminating one of the key drivers of illegal immigration," reported USA Today News.
The Congressional Budget Office has assessed both numbers and their potential impact on the labor market. According to a 2019 report, raising the minimum wage to $10 per hour would cost 0.1 million jobs. A recent report showed $15 an hour could reduce employment by 1.4 million jobs, reported Business Insider.
