The House voted 231-199 Thursday to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour over six years, with
Democrats contending the bill would raise wages for millions of Americans.“If the advocates of this legislation really cared about
American workers, they would not
fire them,” Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said on the House floor. “Rather, they would help secure our borders, save American jobs, save American incomes.”“The House is preparing to pass the RaiseTheWage Act, which would give up to 33 million Americans a raise by gradually lifting the federal minimum wage to $15/hr,” House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tweeted Thursday before the vote. Three Republicans voted for the legislation, HR 582, while six Democrats opposed it. The companion $15 minimum wage bill, S 150, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is unlikely to get a vote in, or be passed by, the Republican-controlled Senate.Last week, on July 8, the Congressional Budget Office released a reportestimating that the U.S. could lose 1.3 million jobs by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour once it was fully implemented by 2025. It also estimated that up to 27 million workers would receive higher wages, and the number of individuals below the poverty line would decrease by 1.3 million.