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It’s been more than a decade since the federal minimum wage has been increased, leaving millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet. However, the Administration's proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $15/hour would cost nearly 1.4 million jobs. Senator Romney teamed up with Senators Cotton (R-AR), Capito (R-WV), Collins (R-ME), and Portman (R-OH) to introduce the Higher Wages for American Workers Act, a proposal to raise wages for nearly 3.5 million workers without costing jobs. Additionally, the legislation would require employers to use E-Verify to ensure that businesses only hire legal workers—eliminating a key driver of illegal immigration. More information on the proposal can be found here.
Full story by Dennis Romboy here.
More than one-third of funding in the Administration's proposed COVID-19 package wouldn’t be spent until 2022 or later, undermining their claim that the massive price tag is justified for urgent pandemic-related needs. The next relief package should be targeted and bipartisan. Senator Romney wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal urging the Administration to come to the table to negotiate the next COVID-19 package, saying Senate Republicans "stand ready to negotiate a plan that helps America recover, both physically and financially, from this dread disease. We are willing to compromise in an attempt to get the administration to come down from its ill-considered $1.9 trillion plan and instead provide need-based relief."
Full opinion by Senator Romney here.
The Administration’s COVID-19 proposal calls for $170 billion for education, yet has no realistic plan to re-open K-12 schools. During a Senate Health Committee hearing, Senator Romney pressed witnesses about the Administration's plan for re-opening schools given that data does not indicate COVID-19 spikes in open schools. The timetable for opening schools should be dictated by science, not teachers unions. Senator Romney also asked the Administration's witnesses about plans to curb the youth vaping epidemic.
During a separate Health Committee hearing, Senator Romney asked Xavier Becerra, the Administration's nominee for HHS Secretary, to explain his stance on abortion—particularly his previous votes in support of partial-birth abortions. "There are areas in which we can find common ground—but this isn’t one of them," Senator Romney said. "There is no common ground here."
Full story by Lee Davidson here.
Senator Romney spoke with The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin during a DealBook DC Policy Project event about his new legislation to raise the minimum wage, the latest discussions regarding COVID-19 relief, and other economic policy issues.
Confucius Institutes are a propaganda tool of the Chinese Communist Party. Senator Romney teamed up with Senators Rubio (R-FL), Grassley (R-IA), and Portman (R-OH) in sending a letter urging the Biden Administration to implement the proposed rule requiring U.S. academic institutions disclose their relationships with Confucius Institutes.
“We have significant concerns regarding the CCP’s nefarious actions and urge you to follow through on your commitments to advancing the interests of the American people as we collectively respond to the challenge that the CCP poses,” the senators wrote. “We believe it is critically important to better understand and reduce the CCP’s influence on the American people, including through the Hanban, its propaganda arm that runs Confucius Institutes through the PRC Ministry of Education. The proposed rule is a necessary step in that effort and would bring needed transparency to Confucius Institutes.”
With two-thirds of Utah held as public land, the Secure Rural Schools program is an essential funding source for schools in Utah’s rural communities, which have also been hit especially hard by the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Romney joined a large bipartisan group of colleagues to introduce legislation to reauthorize the SRS program through September 2022. It is necessary for Congress to reauthorize the SRS program, and Senator Romney will continue pushing to ensure that Congress sees it through.
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