House lawmakers passed President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package early Saturday morning without a single Republican vote in support.
Biden had campaigned extensively on raising the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, from a rate of $7.25 that has stood since 2009.He aimed to include it in the huge COVID rescue plan which allots billions of dollars to boost vaccine delivery, help schools re-open and fund state and local governments.
The minimum wage portion of the latest effort ran aground Thursday when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that it can not be included in the sprawling aid plan as written under certain rules.
'We will not rest until we pass the $15 minimum wage,' Pelosi said.
The rules of so-called reconciliation relate to budgetary bills that are allowed to bypass Republican filibuster efforts in the Senate and pass with just a simple majority of 51 votes, rather than the typical 60.The parliamentarian concluded that the wage hike does not meet the standard, and since there is no Republican support for the bill in the evenly split Senate, the measure will need to go in order for COVID relief to pass.
Because any bill must pass both chambers before the president signs it into law, parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's decision effectively strips the wage hike out of the package.
The president 'urges Congress to move quickly to pass the American Rescue Plan, which includes $1,400 rescue checks for most Americans, funding to get this virus under control, aid to get our schools reopened,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Saturday, February 27, 2021
House lawmakers pass $1.9tn COVID-19 plan
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