Conservative Sen. Josh Hawley needs to lift federal minimal wage

Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley plans to introduce laws Tuesday to lift the federal minimal wage to $15 per hour — a place that aligns some of the conservative Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill with a number of the most liberal members of Congress.

The laws, referred to as the “Greater Wages for American Employees Act,” would elevate the federal normal beginning in 2026 and would additionally name for a rise in subsequent years to match inflation, CBS Information has completely discovered. Vermont Democratic Sen. Peter Welch has signed on as a co-sponsor. 

“For many years, working Individuals have seen their wages flatline. One main wrongdoer of that is the failure of the federal minimal wage to maintain up with the financial actuality dealing with hard-working Individuals day by day,” Hawley stated in a press release to CBS Information. “This bipartisan laws would be sure that employees throughout America profit from greater wages.”

“We’re within the midst of a extreme affordability disaster, with households in pink and blue states alike struggling to afford requirements like housing and groceries,” Welch stated in a press release to CBS. “A stagnant federal minimal wage solely provides gas to the fireplace. Each hard-working American deserves a dwelling wage that helps put a roof over their head and meals on the desk — $7.25 an hour would not even come shut.” 

The federal minimal wage at present sits at $7.25 per hour and has not risen since 2009, in accordance with the U.S. Division of Labor.

The transfer by Hawley places him at odds with conservative social gathering orthodoxy, which has historically opposed a federal minimal wage enhance on the grounds that it could be pricey for companies and in the end, for customers. However Hawley’s pitch is reflective of the social gathering’s realignment within the Trump period, the place the president’s model of populism has fueled a shift amongst working-class voters away from Democrats and in direction of Republicans. 

Hawley has been pushing Republicans to embrace this shift. The minimal wage laws is a part of a broader, aspirational package deal of legislative proposals he dubbed the “Professional-Employee Framework for the 119th Congress.” This features a proposal to assist strengthen protections for union jobs, in addition to for organizing and collective bargaining. 

Earlier this 12 months, he teamed up with Sen. Bernie Sanders to introduce laws to cap bank card rates of interest at 10%. And within the final Congress, he launched laws that will require firms with revenues of $1 billion or extra to pay their staff not less than $15 per hour. In current weeks, Hawley has been urging his social gathering towards cuts to Medicaid advantages within the funds reconciliation invoice. 

In November, voters in Hawley’s residence state of Missouri accepted a poll measure to lift the state’s minimal wage to $15 per hour, beginning in 2026. However the Legislature repealed a part of the regulation that will permit later will increase to regulate for inflation. 

Earlier this 12 months, President Trump rescinded a Biden-era govt order that raised the minimal wage for federal contractors to $17.75 per hour. At his Senate affirmation listening to in January, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated he doesn’t help elevating the federal minimal wage, arguing that it’s a determination greatest left as much as the states.