U.S. Senate to know next week if COVID-19 bill can include minimum wage hike - Sanders

[February 20, 2021]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders said on Friday he expects to find out next week whether lawmakers can include a hike in the minimum wage to $15 an hour in the coronavirus relief bill they are racing to pass.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) gestures as he talks to reporters in the U.S. Senate subway, February 12, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Democrats backing the gradual increase in the wage from the current $7.25 per hour have made their case to the Senate parliamentarian on why it should be included in the $1.9 trillion package addressing the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sanders.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said on Friday his deeply divided chamber will pass the bill before March 14, when the latest round of federal unemployment benefits expire.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Chris Reese)

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