Pelosi Keeping $15 Minimum Wage In COVID Relief Bill Despite Ineligibility In Senate

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Thursday that Democrats will still vote on a COVID-19 relief bill that includes a provision to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per-hour, despite the Senate parliamentarian’s ruling that the provision violated Senate rules.

“The ruling from the Senate parliamentarian is disappointing because raising the minimum wage would give 27 million Americans a well-deserved raise and pull nearly one million Americans out of poverty in the middle of a once-in-a-century devastating pandemic and economic crisis,” said Pelosi in a statement Thursday.

While the $15 minimum wage would lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty, it would also cost 1.4 million jobs, the Congressional Budget Office estimated earlier this month.

“House Democrats believe that the minimum wage hike is necessary,” Pelosi added. “Therefore, this provision will remain in the American Rescue Plan on the floor tomorrow. Democrats in the House are determined to pursue every possible path in the Fight For 15.”

Since the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the minimum wage provision violated Senate rules, Pelosi’s decision to keep the provision will likely force the Senate to pass a separate bill that the House will have to vote on again.

“Democrats cannot include a $15 per hour minimum wage in their $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, a Senate official ruled Thursday, derailing, for now, a party priority and a raise for millions of Americans,” CNBC reported. “Nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined lawmakers could not include the policy under budget reconciliation, CNBC confirmed. She and her staff heard arguments from Democrats and Republicans about whether the proposal met strict standards for deficit effects needed to include it in the process.”