Delaware, The First and Only State Where Both Democratic Senators Voted “No” for $15 Federal Minimum Wage
This article originally written by Digital Content Intern Yusra Asif. Asif, is a senior media communications major at the University of Delaware, working as the associate news editor at The Review and a broadcast news reporter at the Student Television Network at UD.
Delaware senators Chris Coons and Tom Carper joined the Republicans this Friday and voted against increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. The “No” votes were against a proposal by the U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to add the increase in minimum wage to President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
The nay votes came as a surprise to many as both senators belong to Biden’s home state of Delaware and have, in the past, supported gradually increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
In a press release explaining his vote, Carper cited the “recovering economy” and “the fragile state of small businesses” as they struggle to remain open during the pandemic. He mentioned that he has always supported an increase in minimum wage and as Governor of Delaware has “led not one, but three successful efforts to raise my state’s minimum wage.”
“In the months to come, I commit to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to craft a sustainable path forward on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and raising the tipped wage as well,” Carper said in the press release. “We can do this in a way that heeds the unique needs of small businesses at this moment, gives millions of workers in this country a long overdue raise and lifts families out of poverty.”
Coons, on the other hand, did not explain why he voted against the proposal. As per Delaware Online, Coons said that he supports a gradual increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. However, according to his spokesperson, Coon’s is concerned about how Sander’s measures, in particular, would hurt small businesses.
“Every Democrat and many Republicans agree that the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is too low and has been for too long,” Coons said to Delaware Online. “It has to be raised. President Biden has called for us to raise it to $15 an hour. I will work with my colleagues on legislation to raise the minimum wage and index it annually.”
All 50 Republican senators voted against the measure. Carper and Coons joined them, as did fellow senators Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, Jon Tester and Angus King.
