On February 1, the Senate approved, 94-3, a bill (H.R. 2) to increase the minimum wage, as amended by a substitute sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT). The measure would incrementally increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85 within 60 days of enactment. One year after enactment, it would rise to $6.55; a year after that, it would reach $7.25. The bill also would apply the minimum wage to the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. protectorate. The House passed its version of the bill on January 10 (see The Source, 1/12/06).
The Senate version of the bill would provide tax credits for small business and a five-year extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (see The Source, 1/19/07, for a detailed discussion of each provision). Grants for Women’s Business Centers, a permanent extension of the tax deduction for teacher classroom supplies, and grants to states to provide assistance for small businesses to establish and operate child care services also were included in the Senate version (see The Source, 1/26/07, for a detailed discussion of each provision).
Another amendment by Sen. Baucus to express the sense of the Senate that Congress should make permanent the tax incentives to make education more affordable and more accessible for American families was approved, 90-0.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) said, “What we are trying to do with the increase in the minimum wage is to say to men and women of dignity primarily to women because women are the greatest recipients of the minimum wage, to their families and their children, to men and women of color that we understand if you work hard in the country that has the strongest economy in the world, you should not have to live in poverty.” He continued, saying, “The Fair Minimum Wage Act will bring working families out of poverty. The minimum wage increase plus food stamps and the earned income tax credit brings a family of four with one minimum wage earner from 11 percent below the poverty line to five percent above the poverty line.” Sen. Kennedy concluded his remarks, saying, “Certainly raising the minimum wage is only one of many steps that we should take to address the problem of poverty in this nation. Several of my Republican colleagues have suggested that we should examine ways to improve the Earned Income Tax Credit, and I look forward to working with them on this issue. But none of this changes the fundamental fact that the federal minimum wage is at its lowest real value in 50 years and continues to fall further and further behind each day. Minimum wage workers have been waiting longer than ever before in history for an increase, and a raise is long-overdue.”
“I rise today to speak in support of final passage of H.R. 2, as amended,” said Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY). He continued: “Yesterday, 88 Members of the Senate correctly concluded that raising the minimum wage, without providing relief for small business that must pay for that increase, is simply not an option. Rather the option we did strongly decide on included tax benefits to help offset the impact on small business…The Senate’s reasonable approach recognizes that small businesses have been the steady engine of our growing economy and that they have been a source of new job creation, and a source of job training…The Senate’s approach also recognizes that small businesses are middle-class families, too. I am proud that this body has chosen a path which attempts to preserve this segment of the economy, which employs so many working men and women. The Senate has acknowledged the simple fact that a raise in the minimum wage is of no benefit to a worker who doesn’t have a job or a job seeker who doesn’t have a prospect. As this Congress moves forward, we will need to confront a range of issues facing working families: the rising cost of health insurance and the availability of such insurance, the necessity and costs of education and job training, and the desire to achieve an appropriate balance between work and family life. The lessons we have learned in this debate should not be forgotten as we approach new and equally complex issues.”
