The 52-46 vote was eight short of the 60
needed for approval under budget rules and came one day after House Republican
leaders made clear they do not intend to allow a vote on the issue, fearing it
might pass.
The Senate vote marked the ninth time since 1997 that
Democrats there have proposed _ and Republicans have blocked _ a stand-alone
increase in the minimum wage. The debate fell along predictable lines.
"Americans believe that no
one who works hard for a living should have to live in poverty. A job should
lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy,
D-Mass. He said a worker paid $5.15 an hour would earn $10,700 a year,
"almost $6,000 below the poverty line for a family of three."
Kennedy also said lawmakers'
annual pay has risen by roughly $30,000 since the last increase in the minimum
wage.
Republicans said a minimum wage
increase would wind up hurting the low-wage workers that Democrats said they
want to help.
"For every increase you
make in the minimum wage, you will cost some of them their jobs," said
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.
He described the clash as a
"classic debate between two very different philosophies. One philosophy
that believes in the marketplace, the competitive system ... and
entrepreneurship. And secondly is the argument that says the government knows
better and that topdown mandates work."
The measure drew the support of
43 Democrats, eight Republicans and one independent. Four of those eight
Republicans are seeking re-election in the fall.
Democrats had conceded in
advance that this attempt to raise the minimum wage would fare no better than
their previous attempts. At the same time, they have made clear in recent days
they hope to gain support in the coming midterm elections by stressing the
issue. Organized labor supports the legislation, and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.,
said that contrary to some impressions, most minimum wage workers are adults,
not teenagers, and many of them are women.
"When the Democrats control
the Senate, one of the first pieces of legislation we'll see is an increase in
the minimum wage," said Kennedy.
His proposal would have
increased the minimum wage to $5.85 beginning 60 days after the legislation was
enacted; to $6.55 one year later; and to $7.25 a year after that. He said
inflation has eroded the value of the current $5.15 minimum wage by 20 percent.
With the help of
a few rebellious Republicans, House Democrats on the House Appropriations
Committee succeeded in attaching a minimum wage increase last week to
legislation providing funding for federal social programs. Fearing that the
House would pass the measure with the increase intact, the GOP leadership
swiftly decided to sidetrack the entire bill.
"I am opposed to it, and I
think a vast majority of our (rank and file) is opposed to it," House
Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Tuesday.
Pressed by reporters, he said, "There are limits to my
willingness to just throw anything out on the floor."
On Wednesday, his spokesman,
Kevin Madden, said Boehner has told fellow Republicans "the House will
have to deal with this some way." He said no decisions had been made.
While Democrats depend on
organized labor to win elections, Republicans are closely aligned with business
interests that oppose any increase in the federal wage floor or would like
changes in the current system.
Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., chairman
of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, offered an
alternative that proposed a minimum wage increase of $1.10 over 18 months, in
two steps.
The increase was coupled with a
variety of provisions offering regulatory or tax relief to small businesses,
including one to exempt enterprises with less than $1 million in annual
receipts from the federal wage and hour law entirely. The current exemption
level is $500,000, and a Republican document noted the amount had "lagged
behind inflation."
Additionally, Republicans
proposed a system of optional "flextime" for workers, a step that
Enzi said would allow employees, at their discretion, to work more than 40
hours one week in exchange for more time off the next. Unions generally oppose
such initiatives, and the Republican plan drew 45 votes, with 53 in opposition.
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