'Not Ready to Give Up:' Democrats Push Senate to Keep Popular $15 Minimum Wage in Stimulus Bill

As the House of Representatives prepares to pass a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, a fight is brewing over the inclusion of an increase to the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. The measure is at risk in the Senate, where conservative Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema oppose its inclusion in the relief bill or suggest a lower amount. Congressmember Jan Schakowsky of Illinois says Congress must pass the minimum wage hike to help address inequality in the United States. “The current minimum wage, federally, is $7.25. Now, you can’t live on that. You can’t raise a family on that,” she says. “Those colleagues of mine who think that it is too high, that we have to have perhaps a regional wage, are so disrespectful.”