The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report on Monday that said raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour would lead to 1.4 million people out of work, but would also elevate 900,000 people out of poverty. If politicians move forward with the raise, it would also add $54 billion to the national deficit over a 10 year period.
This resurgence in the “fight for $15” initially came within the latest Democrat $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package under the “Raise the Wage Act,” which passed through the House of Representatives on January 26, 2019.
Due to a lack of support in the U.S. Senate, the bill was dropped from the relief plan and now sits on its own.
Democratic Senator, Joe Manchin, said on the topic of supporting the minimum wage increase, “No I’m not. I’m supportive of basically having something that’s responsible and reasonable.”
President Biden ran on the promise of a $15 minimum wage in his battle for the presidency with former President Donald Trump.
In a YouTube campaign video released on October 27, 2020, Biden said, “It’s time we had a $15 an hour minimum wage so families to earn a living and get ahead. As president, I’ll make sure we’ll get it done.”