Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill for a federally mandated $17 an hour minimum wage.

Senator Bernie Sanders announced on Thursday his intention to introduce legislation that would raise the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour. Sanders cited the impact of significant inflation over the past two years as a key reason for the need to increase wages for American workers. The proposed increase, which would be implemented over a five-year period, is $2 higher than the $15 an hour minimum wage that President Joe Biden and many Democrats have advocated for in recent years. However, Republicans have shown no indication of changing their stance against such a proposal.

Sanders, an independent senator who caucuses with the Democrats, explained that inflation has eroded the value of wages, stating, "As a result of inflation, $15 an hour back in 2021 would be over $17 an hour today." He emphasized that in a wealthy country like the United States, no one should have to work for wages that cannot sustain a basic standard of living. Sanders argued that a full-time job should not result in poverty and called for the establishment of a living wage.

The last time Congress approved an increase in the minimum wage was in 2009, when it was set at $7.25 an hour, a rate that still applies to workers in 20 states. While some states and cities have independently raised their minimum wages to $15 an hour, efforts to achieve a nationwide increase have been unsuccessful. In 2021, Democrats tried to include a $15 minimum wage in a major spending bill aimed at supporting the economy during the Covid pandemic, but the effort failed due to opposition from some Democratic lawmakers.

Although President Biden signed an executive order in 2021 to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors, affecting up to 390,000 workers, he has not explicitly endorsed the proposed increase to $17 an hour. The White House has not commented on the matter.

The past two years have seen the highest inflation rates in the US since the 1980s, with consumer prices peaking at an annualized rate of over 9% in June 2022. Although wages have also risen during this period, they have not kept pace with inflation. Cookie Bradley, a founding member of the Union of Southern Service Workers, expressed support for Sanders's proposal, noting that even $15 an hour is no longer sufficient given current economic conditions.

Despite endorsements from major labor organizations such as the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Sanders did not elaborate on how he plans to address opposition from Republicans and some Democrats. He did, however, warn that there could be political consequences for lawmakers who fail to support the minimum wage increase.

Republicans, who now control the House of Representatives, have been largely unenthusiastic about raising the minimum wage and have instead sought to attribute inflation to President Biden's policies. In 2021, Republican senators introduced two proposals: one to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour and another to provide a tax credit for workers earning less than $16.50 an hour. Neither proposal gained traction in the Senate, which is currently controlled by Democrats.

SEIU President Mary Kay Henry vowed that her organization's members would closely monitor lawmakers' positions on Sanders's proposal and hold them accountable at the ballot box if they fail to support it.