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According to reporting from CBS News, the “Plan B” that some Senate Democrats had proposed for the minimum wage hike is now off the table.
The proposal involved a payroll tax penalty for large companies that pay their workers less than a certain amount.
The reporting said Democrats are going to be looking at “all legislative avenues” in the future to get the minimum wage hike approved, and insisted, “we aren’t going to just throw up our hands and walk away.”
The fate of the Democrats’ proposed $15-an-hour minimum wage hike has been in question since the Senate parliamentarian ruled last week that it couldn’t be included in the massive $1.9 trillion economic relief package if that package is passed through the budget reconciliation process.
Budget reconciliation allows a bill pass with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes normally required to move legislation through the Senate.
After the Senate parliamentarian’s ruling, Democrats immediately moved to a “Plan B” to get the minimum wage hike approved through a tax process.
This measure, drafted by aides to Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, would impose a 5% payroll tax penalty on “very large” companies that do not pay workers a certain amount.
But a Democratic aide said on Sunday night that plan is dead.
The aide insisted the provision was not killed due to any opposition within the Democratic caucus from moderates such as West Virginia’s Joe Manchin or Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema.
