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. @JStein_WaPo raises a good question here: can $15/hour minimum wage be done via reconciliation? A short thread: https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1350161737996267523
The key question to answer is whether the Parliamentarian would rule that, under the Congressional Buget Act, the changes being made are "merely incidental" to the non-budgetary components of the measure.
Most of us arguing for an increase in the minimum wage have made at least two related arguments: first, that raising the minimum wage will reduce the number of people currently eligible for public programs, including SNAP, Medicaid, and others. Substantially.
See this report from as far back as 2013 on the public costs of low-wage jobs in the fast food industry, a central case made by the Fight for 15: https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/fast-food-poverty-wages-the-public-cost-of-low-wage-jobs-in-the-fast-food-industry/.
Second, that raising the minimum wage will increase overall business activity, consumer demand, and job growth. See this letter, organized by @EconomicPolicy, of more than 100 economists. https://www.epi.org/economists-in-support-of-15-by-2024/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=f3002d4196-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-f3002d4196-55865149&mc_cid=f3002d4196&mc_eid=52cc359925
While it's true as @jeffstein says in his piece that most budget experts think that a Senate Parliamentarian may consider a minimum wage increase "extraneous" under the statute,
. @jeffstein is also right to posit this as a question, not a definitive answer, until a Senate Parliamentarian fully evaluates both the economic case and recent legislative history of this important debate.
