Minimum wage

She also reiterated a call to end taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers, a proposal Trump made first.

Nearly half the states are increasing their minimum wages this year, boosting the pay of an estimated 9.9 million workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Senate Democrats are jettisoning a proposal to penalize corporations that don’t raise the minimum wage for their lowest-paid workers in an effort to keep President Biden’s broader stimulus plan on track.

A fresh initiative in the U.S. Senate to put a tax penalty on big companies as a way of forcing higher minimum wages prompted a skeptical reaction among economists including a top adviser to former President Barack Obama.

Two Senate committee chiefs are looking at ways to raise taxes on companies paying workers less than $15 an hour, as part of a new strategy to include President Joe Biden’s push to boost the minimum wage to that level in his COVID-19 aid bill.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is weighing adding a provision to the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan that would put a penalty tax on big companies that don’t pay workers at least $15 an hour, a Democratic aide said on condition of anonymity.

Weekly earnings at small businesses continued to increase in January, while job growth went up only slightly.

All but the smallest firms have to follow the same rules as giant corporations.

Wage growth and hours worked climbed at small businesses in July, although the rate of job growth dipped slightly, according to Paychex.

The legislation would gradually raise the minimum wage by 2025 from its current level of $7.25 but is unlikely to advance in the Senate.