Harry Reid slates minimum wage vote

Source: Politico

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Monday set up a long-shot Wednesday vote on a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

Senate Democrats will need 60 votes to open debate on the legislation written by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to gradually increase the wage and eventually peg it to inflation — a level of support that appears unattainable.

Democratic aides expect as many as 54 members of the 55-member Senate Democratic caucus to support the procedural vote Wednesday, with Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) predicted to vote against. That party unity will be a key cog in Democrats’ election-year plans to portray Republicans as against working Americans by opposing the $10.10 rate, which the GOP says will result in widespread job loss, citing a report by the Congressional Budget Office earlier this year.

A failed procedural vote might pay political dividends for Democrats by creating a contrast with the GOP — but it doesn’t get low-paid workers any closer to a pay bump. The $10.10 proposal has broad opposition among the GOP and there is little appetite among Republicans to even debate the bill, despite outliers like Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).



Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/minimum-wage-vote-senate-106103.html