Senators had floated the backup plan Thursday and Friday, after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a proposed federal minimum wage increase to $15 per hour didn't meet the requirements that Democrats must follow to pass the stimulus bill without Republican support.
The "plan B," championed by Senate Finance Chair
Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Budget Chair
Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would have punished billion-dollar corporations that didn't pay workers enough using various tax incentives.
Lawmakers were considering a variety of penalties, including a 5% levy on a big corporation's total payroll if any workers earned less than $15 per hour.
The fate of the Biden administration's first major legislation now rests in the Senate after the House passed its version of the bill early Saturday largely along party lines.