Minimum Wage Increase Booted From Stimulus Package (Beltway Buzz, February 26, 2021)

The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what's happening in Washington, D.C. could impact your business.

Minimum Wage Increase Booted From Stimulus Package. Even before members of the U.S. House of Representatives could vote on their $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the parliamentarian of the U.S. Senate had ruled that the provision in the package that increased the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour could not be included in any legislation that would pass the Senate. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough found that the provision violated the rules of the budget reconciliation process, which Democrats have been using to advance the stimulus package, as the process bypasses the legislative filibuster and requires a spending bill receive only 51 votes for passage in the Senate. For political reasons, the House is expected to keep the minimum wage provision in its version of the