Three liberal advocacy groups are petitioning the White House to ‘do whatever it takes’ to keep the minimum wage hike in the COVID relief package.
UltraViolet, Women’s March, and One Fair Wage said Tuesday they have gathered 200,000 signatures in support of disregarding the Senate parliamentarian ruling that a provision raising the federal minimum wage to $15 was not relevant to the $1.9 trillion legislation.
“As President of the Senate Vice President [Kamala] Harris has the Constitutional power to disregard the recommendation of the Senate Parliamentarian and include this provision in the COVID relief legislation,” read the letter to President Biden and Ms. Harris. “The vast bipartisan majority of Americans support this policy. President Biden simply must rise up for the communities who turned out in record numbers to elect him and support the Vice President in taking this action on behalf of his Administration.”
UltraViolet campaign director Sonja Spoo said it is time for Mr. Biden to deliver for Democratic voters immediately.
“Fixing this country requires more than just so-called civility and decency—it requires a no-holds-barred attitude when it comes to delivering for the American people,” said Ms. Spoo in a statement.
Women’s March executive director Rachel O’Leary Carmona said Democrats must eliminate the filibuster, pass the minimum wage increase, and deliver on their promises to voters that provided them unified control of Congress and the White House.
“It’s unacceptable that the unelected Senate parliamentarian would be able to deprive minimum wage workers — nearly two-thirds of whom are women—of a living wage,” said Ms. O’Leary Carmona in a statement. “American women are already losing jobs, dropping out of the workforce at an astonishing rate, and facing an economic crisis of unprecedented measure.”
The three liberal groups pushing the White House to prioritize action over bipartisanship recorded dozens of other liberal groups joining their coalition asking the Biden administration to heed its demands.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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