Biden can improve the lives of hundreds of thousands with a single executive order.
By Bryce Covert
Ms. Covert, a contributing opinion writer, is an independent journalist who focuses on the economy, with an emphasis on policies that affect workers and families.
Feb. 5, 2021
Workers installing barbed wire near the Capitol a day before the inauguration.Credit.Mike Segar/Reuters
President Biden has been very clear. He wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 from the current floor of $7.25 an hour. But it’s also clear that it’ll be a tough sell. Republicans have singled out a $15 wage in Mr. Biden’s Covid-relief package as one of the things they object to most. Even some Senate Democrats may not be on board; Joe Manchin and Jon Tester have already voiced opposition. During the deliberations over Mr. Biden’s proposal on the Senate floor this week, a measure that prohibits any minimum wage increase during the pandemic passed on a voice vote, potentially signaling probl
Biden Plans To Raise Wages For Hundreds Of Thousands Of Workers Without Congress
The president s embrace of a higher minimum wage for federal contractors is a testament to the Fight for $15 ― and to his own evolution on executive power.
Democrats in Congress hope they can find enough votes to pass a $15 minimum wage bill and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk. But within the next three months or so, the new administration plans to institute a $15 wage floor for some workers on its own.
Under a campaign proposal that Biden has reaffirmed since taking office, government procurement rules would be changed so that workers employed under federal contracts would have to be paid at least $15 per hour. That could increase wages for at least a quarter of a million workers across the country in food service, building maintenance, construction and other fields.
Washington, D.C. — Today, President Joe Biden took action to put federal agencies on a path toward raising the minimum wage for federal employees and contract workers to $15 dollars per hour, providing them with emergency paid leave, and restoring essential collective bargaining rights and protections to federal employees. The order builds on previous actions taken by […]
Improving the Lives and Rights of LGBTQ People in America
A Road Map for the Biden Administration Getty/Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle
LGBTQ rights supporters gather during a candlelight vigil in West Reading, Pennsylvania, on September 14, 2020.
Adam Peck
Introduction and summary
The Trump administration spent the majority of its four years in office launching a barrage of attacks infringing on the rights of LGBTQ people, promoting discriminatory policies, and creating barriers to access critical government services. These actions reflect the Trump administration’s blatant disregard for the rights, dignity, and well-being of LGBTQ people, their families, and communities. In particular, the damages promulgated by the administration exacerbated existing inequalities and disparities between LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ people in the realms of health, employment, the justice system and law enforcement interactions, education, housing, and immigration. The real-world consequen
A How-To Guide for Strengthening State and Local Prevailing Wage Laws
Raising Standards for Government-Funded Work
December 22, 2020, 9:02 am Getty/John Moore
A custodian cleans ahead of the return of students at a school in Stamford, Connecticut, August 2020.
Julia Cusick
Introduction and summary
State and local governments spend billions of dollars each year on goods and services that are provided by private companies.
1 Yet, all too often, this spending undermines the labor standards of high-road companies that pay good wages and benefits, delivers jobs that pay poverty wages, and provides poor value to taxpayers. Policymakers can help ensure that government dollars uphold local market wages, support high-quality jobs, and deliver value to taxpayers by enacting prevailing wage laws, which require recipients of government funding to provide workers with wages and fringe benefits that are comparable to those paid to other similarly placed workers in the region.