Senate Rejects GOP-Led Estate Tax, Minimum Wage Bill
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WASHINGTON — A Republican election-year effort to fuse a cut in inheritance taxes on multimilllion-dollar estates with the first minimum wage increase in nearly a decade was rejected by the Senate late yesterday.
Republicans needed 60 votes to advance their bill, which links a $2.10 increase in the $5.15 federal minimum wage over three years to reductions an estate taxes next decade. Passed by the House last Saturday, the bill got a 56–42 vote, four votes short of succeeding.
For Republicans, the combination could have neutralized a Democratic campaign issue while also advancing an estate tax cut, a priority that may have an uncertain future if the GOP loses seats in Congress in November’s election.
The GOP strategy put Democrats in an uncomfortable position. Either they could vote against the bill, thus rejecting a minimum wage increase, or they could vote for it, thus agreeing to cut taxes on multimillion-dollar estates. Most rejected the bill, blocking a GOP victory months before the election.
The Senate Finance Committee chairman, Charles Grassley, a Republican of Iowa, likened the minimum wage and estate tax bill to “a long-shot” bet on racing horses. “Once they’re out of the barn and running around, it’s kind of hard to turn them around,” he said.
