Conservative groups are arguing that the Chamber of Commerce made a strategic mistake by suggesting a compromise with congressional Democrats on raising the minimum wage.
As House Democrats moved toward a vote, now scheduled for Thursday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, up from the current rate of $7.25, the Chamber proposed a compromise halfway between the two rates.
The Chamber’s compromise, though, has found no apparent takers, and opponents of a raise say it did nothing to change the debate in Congress. The Chamber is now also facing backlash from conservatives for backing an increase in the minimum wage.
American for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, who opposes any increase, called it a “huge mistake” by the Chamber, which should instead have made the economic argument for less government interference.
“This is a missed opportunity by the Chamber of Commerce, which could get up and say this is wrong on principle and it would hurt the economy,” Norquist told the Washington Examiner. “Whose lives are they cavalierly agreeing to screw? Why are they doing that? It is a huge mistake on the part of the Chamber.”
Erica Jedynak, director of employment initiatives for Stand Together, a group founded by conservative philanthropist Charles Koch, called the Chamber’s move a failed stunt.
“Only a couple of moderate Dems and a few moderate Republicans are on the fence here,” she said. “It’s a bad political stunt. Whether it is large business or small business, an increase is still going to hurt their members. … I haven’t seen it make any headway.”
The House is set to vote Thursday on the Raise the Wage Act, which would raise the federal minimum hourly wage to $15 by 2026 and would make other changes such as eliminating the tip credit, which allows certain businesses like restaurants to pay less than the minimum wage provided the workers can make that up in tips. The bill is expected to pass the Democrat-led House but not go far in the Republican-led Senate.
The Chamber, in its compromise proposal, called for protections for certain businesses, such as restoring the tip credit. Officials noted that past increases had always been bipartisan and included concessions to moderate the impact of the higher labor costs.
“The choice members have as they vote moving forward on this is: Is this an effort to come to compromise, as they did previously, or is this an effort to have a political vote on $15?” Glenn Spencer, the Chamber’s vice president for employment policy, told reporters last week.
The proposal followed a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office earlier in the week that found that an increase to $15 would cost 1.3 million jobs, wiping out most of the benefits to the workers from the higher wages. The same report found that an increase to only $10 would increase wages for 3.5 million without any negative impact for the overall workforce.
House Democrats, though, have fixed their sights on $15 an hour. “Americans across the nation are working longer hours & still struggling to make ends meet. That’s why we must pass the #RaiseTheWage Act,” tweeted Rep. Al Lawson, D-Florida.
Michael Saltsman, managing director of the Employment Policies Institute, another opponent of the raise, said there was little point in offering a counterproposal because “Democrats who have been unwilling to move off of the $15 number.”
A spokesman for the Chamber could not be reached for comment.
