Between the lines: The process, called “reconciliation,” allows any bill in which each provision affects the federal government’s finances to be voted on by a 51-vote majority, as opposed to the regular 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
- The provision cannot be "merely incidental" to the government's finances, according to a statute known as the Byrd rule. The interpretation of this vague requirement was up to the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, to decide.
What’s next: President Biden has promised to support a standalone bill to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour, but it's unlikely to get any Republican support.
The other side: Republicans have introduced their own versions of bills to increase the minimum wage.
- Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) proposed an increase to $10/hour by 2025. This bill, however, contains a provision that would mandate E-Verify for all employers to ensure the rising wages go to "legally authorized workers," which likely would not get any Democratic support.
- Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced an alternative to the Democrats' proposal that would use federal dollars to increase low-earning workers' income. One foreseeable problem: the subsidy would disproportionally benefit those in states that have kept their minimum wages low.
