The House approved a measure July 18 to more than double the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 and to annually revisit the minimum wage after that.
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. The bill would increase this floor by more than $1 per year until the minimum hits $15 an hour. It would also eliminate the separate minimum wage for tipped employees.
The 231-199 vote to raise the minimum wage fell largely along party lines. The Republican-controlled Senate has received the bill but is unlikely to take up the issue, according to The New York Times. Opponents of the wage increase say it will eliminate jobs, according to the report.
If enacted, a $15 minimum wage would increase wages for 27 million Americans, and 1.3 million Americans would cross the poverty threshold, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis cited by The New York Times. However, the higher minimum wage could mean 1.3 million fewer jobs, according to the report.
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