GOP’S bid to become a ‘workers party’
Republicans have talked a lot in recent years about becoming a “workers party,” without having much of an agenda to match the rhetoric. A new Senate proposal aims to start changing that.
The bill would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $11 per hour while also requiring employers to check that their employees are legally authorized to work in the United States. Both halves of the bill have faced Republican resistance in the past, largely because of business opposition. But the bill’s sponsors span the Republican spectrum in the Senate: Mitt Romney (Utah), Tom Cotton (Ark.), J.D. Vance (Ohio), Susan Collins (Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (W. Va.) and Bill Cassidy (La.) are all on board. That group includes moderates, traditional conservatives and populists; Republicans who back Donald Trump and Republicans who voted to convict him and disqualify him for office.
The immigration portion of the bill reflects the priority the party has come to place on blocking illegal immigration. Republicans have in the recent past tended to emphasize enforcing the laws at our borders, but enforcement at the workplace must also be part of any immigration-control strategy. Many illegal immigrants came here legally but then overstayed their visas to keep working here.
The bill would require employers to use the federal Everify system to hire only legally authorized employees. Goodfaith use of the system, in return, immunizes businesses from liability if illegal workers slip through. The E-verify idea got its start with a commission appointed by President Bill Clinton and has garnered support from red-state Democrats within recent memory, although those Democrats have mostly been replaced by Republicans. The Department of Homeland Security’s estimates suggest it’s a reasonably accurate system, with fewer than 8 percent of flagged employees proving to be authorized to work in the United States.
This part of the proposal
might unlock the door to other immigration reforms. Many Republicans, judging from polls, are open to granting legal status to illegal immigrants who have put down roots and avoided trouble in our country. But they worry that any such amnesty will lead to more illegal immigration. An assurance that the laws will be enforced, including on employers, might help allay this fear.
Reducing the use of illegal labor should also help low-wage workers (including legal immigrants), which makes the immigration proposal complementary to the minimum-wage increase. Any such increase would draw the traditional objections. Libertarians think that if consenting adults are willing to agree on a low pay rate, the government should not get in the way. But our society crossed that bridge 85 years ago and has not looked back.
The mainstream concern about raising the minimum wage is that it will increase unemployment. In 2021, the Congressional Budget Office estimated a $15 minimum wage, which Democrats have been pushing for, would reduce employment by the equivalent of 1.4 million jobs. But the increase these Republicans favor would be more modest, which suggests the negative effects on employment would be as well.
The current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour was set in 2009. Inflation since then has reduced its value. Raising it to $11 would essentially restore the old level. The bill would also index the minimum wage to inflation, protecting its real value from future erosion and fulfilling the policy’s goal of guaranteeing a basic standard of living for workers.
The increase might, of course, be too small to win Democratic support. But even a supporter of a larger increase should conclude that a partial victory beats a continued standoff. And whether or not it passes, the proposal is a sign that Republicans might be recovering their ability to engage in creative and constructive policymaking.