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Biden signs $15 minimum wage for federal contract workers

Biden signs $15 minimum wage for federal contract workers
So help you God, so help me God, congratulations mr. President joe biden took office in the midst of national chaos, a period marked by a raging global virus and an economy in crisis. Two weeks after a violent insurgent mob overran the U. S. Capitol. Biden's early days in the White House overshadowed by the second impeachment trial of his predecessor, Donald trump. But if the first days of the biden White House didn't dominate the national consciousness, it was at least in part by design. It just so happens that he became president when we needed a low key, understated president. He has no need to be center stage all the time. This is exactly what americans wanted when they voted for him. They wanted a change from donald trump biden style. Maybe Loki his agenda anything but he signed a massive $1.9 trillion covid relief bill two months into office And just last week marked 200 million vaccine shots in American arms. This is an american achievement, a powerful demonstration of unity and resolve. In his 1st 100 days biden convened a global climate summit, rejoined the World Health Organization and paris accord and work to repair relations with the U. S. Allies. He halted construction of the border wall and ended travel restrictions on people from a variety of muslim majority countries. The Democrats who voted for Biden overwhelmingly wanted him to spend as much time as possible reversing Donald Trump's administration, Biden's next big push police reform, as well as a massive $2 trillion dollar infrastructure package that he claims would not only update the nation's roads and bridges, but reshape the economy as a whole. It's not a plan that tinkers around the edges. It's a once in a generation investment in America, but land mines lie ahead for him with a divided Congress and a Republican Party that largely believes his proposals are too big, too expensive and too liberal. It is a massive expansion of the government financed on the backs of the american taxpayers. With taxes that will hurt the economy and cost US jobs. The president also faces a number of looming and lasting crises that perplexed many of his predecessors, a surge of mass shootings, migrants flooding the southern border and international rivals from Russia to china to north Korea, rattling their swords. For now, Biden is pushing forward with the support of a pretty stable public approval honeymoon. It's very significant that President Biden has been able to get support among independents and even a sliver of republicans. According to the latest ap Norc surveys from 60% of americans approve of Biden's job performance, kelly Daschle, the Associated Press.
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Biden signs $15 minimum wage for federal contract workers
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors, providing a pay bump to hundreds of thousands of workers.Biden administration officials said that the higher wages would lead to greater worker productivity, offsetting any additional costs to taxpayers.“This executive order will promote economy and efficiency in federal contracting, providing value for taxpayers by enhancing worker productivity and generating higher-quality work by boosting workers’ health, morale, and effort,” the White House said in a statement.The liberal Economic Policy Institute estimates that as many as 390,000 low-wage federal contractors would receive a raise, with roughly half of the beneficiaries being Black or Hispanic workers. There are an estimated 5 million contract workers in the federal government, according to a posting last year for the Brookings Institution by Paul Light, a public policy professor at New York University.The increase could be dramatic for workers who earn the current minimum of $10.95 an hour. Those workers would receive a 37% pay hike, though the increase would be rolled out gradually, according to the terms of the order.The White House said the workers would include cleaning professionals and maintenance workers, nursing assistants who care for veterans, cafeteria workers providing for the military and laborers who build and repair federal infrastructure.All federal agencies would need to include the higher wage in new contract offerings by Jan. 30 of next year. By March 30, agencies would need to implement the higher wage into new contracts. The increase would also be in existing contracts that are extended.The wage would be indexed to inflation, so it would automatically increase with each year to reflect changes in prices. The tipped minimum wage of $7.65 an hour for federal contractors would be replaced by the standard minimum by 2024.Biden has pushed to establish a $15 hourly minimum wage nationwide for all workers, making it a part of his coronavirus relief package. But the Senate parliamentarian said the wage hike did not follow the budgetary rules that allowed the $1.9 trillion plan to pass with a simple majority, so it was not included in the bill that became law in March.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors, providing a pay bump to hundreds of thousands of workers.

Biden administration officials said that the higher wages would lead to greater worker productivity, offsetting any additional costs to taxpayers.

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“This executive order will promote economy and efficiency in federal contracting, providing value for taxpayers by enhancing worker productivity and generating higher-quality work by boosting workers’ health, morale, and effort,” the White House said in a statement.

The liberal Economic Policy Institute estimates that as many as 390,000 low-wage federal contractors would receive a raise, with roughly half of the beneficiaries being Black or Hispanic workers. There are an estimated 5 million contract workers in the federal government, according to a posting last year for the Brookings Institution by Paul Light, a public policy professor at New York University.

The increase could be dramatic for workers who earn the current minimum of $10.95 an hour. Those workers would receive a 37% pay hike, though the increase would be rolled out gradually, according to the terms of the order.

The White House said the workers would include cleaning professionals and maintenance workers, nursing assistants who care for veterans, cafeteria workers providing for the military and laborers who build and repair federal infrastructure.

All federal agencies would need to include the higher wage in new contract offerings by Jan. 30 of next year. By March 30, agencies would need to implement the higher wage into new contracts. The increase would also be in existing contracts that are extended.

The wage would be indexed to inflation, so it would automatically increase with each year to reflect changes in prices. The tipped minimum wage of $7.65 an hour for federal contractors would be replaced by the standard minimum by 2024.

Biden has pushed to establish a $15 hourly minimum wage nationwide for all workers, making it a part of his coronavirus relief package. But the Senate parliamentarian said the wage hike did not follow the budgetary rules that allowed the $1.9 trillion plan to pass with a simple majority, so it was not included in the bill that became law in March.