probably europe and others will be looking at it to see is the u.s. really going to take measures that will address climate change and commit money to helping other countries address climate change? >> find the weekly for you get your podcasts. host: good monday wing. you can start calling in now. talking about why he included a $15 an hour federal minimum wage or puzzle in his rescue plan for covid relief. this is the president. president biden: our recovery plan calls for an increase in the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour.

no one in america should work 40 hours a week making below the poverty line. $15 gets people above the poverty line. we have so many millions of people working 40 hours a week, working, some with two jobs. they are still below the poverty line. host: we will hear more from president biden this week about his american rescue plan. one question, what is the cost of these proposals? a $15 per hour federal minimum wage, the congressional budget office looked at it, this is what they wrote about the impact of that proposal. "a $15 per hour minimum wage by 2025 would boost the wages of 17 million workers who would otherwise earn less than $15 an hour. another 10 million workers earning slightly more than $15 per hour might see their wages rise. they noted 1.3 million other workers would become jobless due to the plan. the number of people with annual income below the poverty threshold in 2025 would fall by 1.3 million."

they go on to note those numbers are a median estimate, those loss numbers could be less or could rise to as much as 3.7 million workers. the 2019 cbo report has been cited by several members of congress who disagree with the federal minimum wage being $15 an hour, especially focused on that job loss number. one of those members was a republican senator from wyoming. this is what he had to say last week. >> president biden is calling on this body to vote to double the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. maybe his idea of national unity is national uniformity, but that does not work in wyoming or for the people of wyoming. maybe he thinks imposing top-down regulations on every american would bring us all together. that's not the kind of unity the american people are looking for.

we want to stand shoulder to shoulder, but not in the unemployment line. in 2019, well before the pandemic hit, the nonpartisan congressional budget office estimated that a mandate of $15 per hour minimum wage nationwide would lead to 1.3 million fewer americans working. 1.3 million americans. madam president, at a time where 10 million americans are unemployed due to the pandemic, 1.3 million americans more can't afford to lose their jobs. the cbo also says it would lead to higher prices for consumers. paying more wages and passing on the prices to consumers. this has hurt american small businesses across the country. talk to a small business owner from wyoming, jimmy has a sinclair station and he called me on sunday and said $15 an

hour, the station has a food court next to it. he said we would have to shut down the forward -- food court. we can't afford $15 an hour for the young people who are working there. putting money in their pockets, providing food and services to the people of the community. $15 an hour, shut it down. host: senator john barrasso on the senate floor. a reminder of how we got here on the federal minimum wage. here are the most recent increases to the federal minimum wage over the years. in 1988 was $3.10. the minimum wage arose in 1990 to $3.80 per hour. three increases back in the late -- in 2007 it was $5.95 an hour. $6.55 in 2008, in 2009 it became

$7.25 an hour. that's where it has been since then and the idea from the biden administration, more than double that, $15 an hour. according to the wall street journal, eight wrap up of the states around the country, the federal minimum wage enforced in states that don't have a minimum wage or below the $7.25 an hour. those states include texas and virginia and many states would follow the federal wage late if it increases to $15 an hour. most states have a minimum wage higher including $13.69 per hour in washington state. other states had higher rates based on the size of employer or location in the state. eight states including florida have adopted an eventual $15 an hour minimum wage. we want to hear your thoughts on raising the minimum wage nationwide to $15 an hour. the phone lines are split up by age, if you are under 40,

(202)748-8000, and if you are over 40 (202) 748-8001. that special line for small business owners. we want to know what your impacts would be about that this morning. bob is up first from brownsville, texas. this is the line for those under 40. caller: good morning. we need the $15 an hour minimum wage. everything is going up, like rent, food, water, gas bills, you name it. the republicans don't hesitate to give trillions of tax breaks to the wealthy and the rich, their donors, the 1%. when it comes to the american workers, they don't want to raise the minimum wage. they don't want to do the stimulus check. that doesn't make no sense. host: that was bob in texas. this is linda in akron ohio on that line for those over 40 years old. caller: i do believe that the minimum wage should be raised, i

do however think $15 is a little too much at this time. i think it would just be horrible for small businesses. i think a lot of minimum-wage jobs go to younger folks and perhaps they don't have families, homes, rent, things like that. i think maybe a happy medium would be around $10 an hour and 15 is a little too much to keep small businesses that are open going. host: how would you feel about a gradual increase, it would not jump tomorrow but would gradually increase over four or five years? would you feel better? justice ginsburg: -- caller: i would absolutely be

for that. i don't think $15 an hour with the cost of food and rent, our everyday expenses, is out of line at all. right now with the pandemic and everything that is going on it just seems a little too high for me. host: here's one plan of how to get to $15 per hour over several years. it was introduced last week as stand-alone legislation and could be wrapped up in some larger covid package. it's called the raise the wage act, several democrats who have been pushing for a $15 per hour federal minimum wage pushed for this last week. it would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 and would index future increases in minimum wage to medium wage growth so it would grow beyond that eventually. it would phase out subminimum wage for tipped workers, those folks for whom the federal memo wage does not apply. here is the schedule of how they would do it going from the

current $7.25 per hour upon enactment of this raise the wage act, federal minimum wage would go to $9.50 per hour. one year later $11 per hour. another year later $12.50 per hour. another year later $14 per hour. after four years we would get to that $15 per hour federal minimum wage. that was one proposal that has been put forth and backed by a lot of folks who have been pushing for the federal minimum wage to go to $15 per hour. one of those folks, senator bernie sanders was on the announcement zoom call last week for this raise the wage act. sen. sanders: the overwhelming majority of americans support raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. this is not a radical idea. this is what the american people want. as chairman scott pointed out,

since 1998, every time a state has had an initiative on the ballot to raise the minimum wage, it has won, whether the state was red, blue, purple. state after state understands that we have to end starvation wages in america, and that's what we in congress have to do. just last november, 61% of the people in florida, a state joe biden lost by three points, voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. eight states and over 40 cities have adopted laws to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. during the last session of congress the house did the right thing under the leadership of speaker pelosi and chairman scott and i applaud them and the entire house for their efforts. they passed legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and i have no doubt they

will do it once again. at this moment in history, the issue of raising the minimum wage rests in the u.s. senate. it is my strong hope that acolle from terribly poor states, will understand the severity of the crisis facing their working people and joining us -- and will join us -- in raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. this is not a democrat issue, republican issue, this is an issue that impacts every working-class person in this country. host: senator bernie sanders a long-term supporter of raising the minimum wage. among those also pushing the raise the wage act, norma torres from california. "$7.25 is with the

government expects you to live on. we should raise it to at least $15. the raise the wage act is a long-overdue overdue step in that fight." on the other site of the aisle this was congressman kevin brady, republican from texas. "$156,000, a texas small business at minimum wage would pay $156,000 more a year under the same mandate. no new revenue, just huge costs. goodbye to small business jobs." phone lines are split by age and we have a special line for small business owners. this is angela, cleveland, ohio. caller: good morning. i wanted to respond to your first caller, i believe bob from texas, who was in favor of

raising the federal minimum wage. he said everything is going up, up, up, and he needs to realize once this becomes effective it is going to go up even further and they are still going to be left behind. two -- host: what is the answer, angela? caller: what is the answer? i don't know but i am in favor, as you discussed with another woman from akron, is it stating it gradually over years. that seems like the best solution. all the businesses are going to have to pay this wage for the people who are going to have to pay more for everything because of the increased wages. basing over three or four years makes a lot more sense than to all of a sudden going up to $15 at once. host: that was angela from cleveland. timothy out of harpers bill, new

york for those over 50. good morning. caller: yes, raising the minimum wage is something i agree with. hello? host: i am listening. why do you agree with it? caller: because the cost-of-living now is doubled, right? myself, i cannot work. i am on disability. people that are really hurting are the people long disability, you know? we don't even make it through the month, you know? they don't even talking about increasing our money. host: when was the last time you saw a cost-of-living increase in

your disability insurance? caller: [laughs] they raised my cost-of-living to $11 this year. host: from what? caller: from $8.59 to $11. $11 they raised my check up to. it is ridiculous. host: timothy in new york for . don from maryland for those under 40. caller: good morning. i do not think $15 is a lot of money. besides it is going to be over a

gradual period of time. we claim to care about our essential workers. a lot of those workers are the ones who are being affected by minimum-wage. come on, let's be real. $15 is not a lot of money. people out here working two and three jobs that cannot take care of their family, cannot supervise the family. anybody working 40 hours or more should be at least meeting the standards, paying their bills. they should not have to be working two or three jobs. host: what kind of work do you do? caller: i am a custodian. host: have you been subject -- you are on the line for those under 40 -- have you been subject to minimum-wage? caller: