Ohio鈥檚 Democratic senior U.S. Senator says he鈥檚 confident the minimum wage will be raised quickly and substantially, even though a provision to hike it to $15 an hour won鈥檛 be included in the latest $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill.
Sen. Sherrod Brown said though the Senate parliamentarian ruled the increase can鈥檛 be included in the COVID aid package, Democrats will find a way to hike it because it鈥檚 what voters want.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 care about all the inner machinations going on in Congress. They don鈥檛 care how we do it," Brown said. "It鈥檚 up to us to figure out how we substantially increase wages in this country.鈥�
Brown wouldn鈥檛 get specific on a conference call with local Democratic officeholders on how the COVID relief bill will help their communities. But he said Democrats are united in supporting a substantial increase.
鈥淲e will move quickly, and we鈥檒l figure this out. I鈥檓 not going to debate on a call like this on how exactly we鈥檙e going to do it. I鈥檓 talking to Sen. [Ron] Wyden (D-OR), talking to Sen. [Chuck] Schumer (D-NY). We have overwhelming support on the Democratic side for a substantial increase in the minimum wage," Brown said.
But Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) are proposal.
Republicans Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Tom Cotton (R-OK) have tied to a requirement that employers use the E-verify system to check the citizenship of workers. Ohio's Republican Sen. Rob Portman also supports that plan.
The Higher Wages for American Workers Act will do 2 things:
— Rob Portman (@senrobportman)
1. Raise the minimum wage in a responsible manner.
2. Mandate E-verify to ensure that businesses only hire legal workers.
This is a good deal for American workers, businesses & families.
