Senate Adopts Ernst Amendment to Not Raise the Minimum Wage During Pandemic

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in the Senate subway area of the Capitol before President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in Washington on Feb. 4, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

An amendment offered by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to prohibit increasing the federal minimum wage while the nation continues grappling with the CCP Virus was unanimously adopted by the Senate late Thursday.

“Adopted by voice vote: Ernst Amendment #767 (Re: Prohibit the increase of the federal minimum wage during a global pandemic) in relation to S.Con.Res.5, Sanders Budget Resolution,” the Senate GOP Floor Monitor tweeted shortly before midnight.

The Sanders Budget Resolution was offered by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as a means of allowing Senate Democrats to adopt President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion CCP virus recovery proposal without support from any of the Senate’s 50 Republicans.

Biden proposed during the campaign and since taking office as President raising the federal minimum wage to at least $15 per hour. Other Democrats, including Sanders, have pushed for an increase to $23 per hour.

“Tonight, I got the entire Senate—Democrats and Republicans—to agree not to hike the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour during a global pandemic, which would kill jobs and destroy small businesses,” Ernst said shortly after the vote.

The Senate action throws a major obstacle in the way of efforts by Biden and Democratic leaders in both chambers of Congress to boost the minimum wage that Republicans and economists for years have warned kills jobs, especially entry-level positions that are critically important for young people.

Earlier this week, The Epoch Times reported that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in calling for a compromise on Biden’s $1.9 Trillion proposal, specifically opposed raising the minimum wage.

Contact Mark Tapscott at [email protected]