Surprised Democrats Weigh Seeking Higher Base Pay This Year : Bush Shift Revives Minimum Wage Issue in Congress

Vice President George Bush’s decision to support an increase in the minimum wage has revived the issue in Congress and increased the chances that some kind of wage increase legislation will be approved this year, Democratic and Republican leaders said Thursday.

“This (Bush’s statement) certainly increases the potential for such a bill,” said Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. “Many Republicans who opposed this in the past might now consider giving it their support.”

However, Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) cautioned that there are only a few weeks left before Congress adjourns and said that Democratic leaders have not yet decided whether to seek a minimum wage increase this year.

Will Push Two Bills

Democrats will push for enactment of two of three social welfare bills now pending before Congress, he said. They are the minimum wage increase, expanded federal support for child care and mandatory parental leave benefits when children are born or seriously ill.

The minimum wage issue surfaced Wednesday, when Bush, in a significant policy shift, said in a Knight-Ridder interview that he no longer opposes some kind of an increase in the nation’s $3.35 wage floor, which has not changed for seven years. On Thursday, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater reiterated President Reagan’s long-standing opposition to such an increase.

“We think it (a hike in the minimum wage) would hurt employment opportunities and result in unemployment, rather than real wage gains--at least in the short term.”

Speaking to reporters, Fitzwater stressed the Administration’s support for a “subminimum” wage for young people, intended “to increase hiring of young people particularly black young people where they have such a high rate of unemployment.”

Have Not Picked Number

“If we got the youth wage . . . we would consider some kind of reasonable increase in the minimum wage, but we have not defined a number yet,” he said.

Congressional Democrats, who said that Bush’s announcement caught them by surprise, discussed it Thursday at a joint strategy meeting of House and Senate leaders.

“This (Bush’s statement) certainly gives the issue more velocity now,” said a House Democratic leadership aide. “We think there’s a real chance to move the bill along, because a lot more people can get on board.”

Labor leaders, however, said it might be premature to push for a wage increase now. They suggested that it might be wiser to await the outcome of the presidential election, betting that labor would get a better deal from a Democratic Administration.

“You can ask yourself, why rush it now and get some kind of minimal settlement?” said Evelyn Dubrow a Capitol Hill lobbyist for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. “If we have to compromise to get only a minor increase, maybe it’s better to wait.”

Bill Passes Committee

There are several wage proposals pending before Congress, including a Democratic-backed plan to raise the wage floor to $4.55 over three years that has been approved by the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. A House bill, approved by the Education and Labor Committee last March, would raise the wage to $5.05 over four years.

Sponsors have said that an increase in the wage floor is long overdue and represents basic economic justice for millions of underpaid workers. But critics believe it would increase inflation and wind up excluding disadvantaged and low-skilled employees from the job market.

Some Republicans said that Bush’s comments will have little political impact, because the Senate already was ready to enact some kind of minimum wage legislation. It is not a question of if but when the Congress will approve such an increase, said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), ranking Republican on the Labor and Human Resources Committee.

Divided on Child Care

Meanwhile, Byrd and other leaders also are trying to decide whether to push for enactment of child-care and parental leave legislation in the waning weeks of the 100th Congress. Although child care is a popular political issue, House members are divided over a $2.5-billion bill that would greatly expand the federal government’s role. Under the legislation, about 75% of the money would be distributed to the states to help low- and middle-income families pay for child care.

Most of the funds either would go to parents in the form of vouchers, or directly to day-care centers. But there have been disputes over whether the government can provide subsidies legally to church-run day-care centers across the nation without violating the constitutional separation between church and state.

Nearly one-third of all American children in day care go to centers sponsored or operated by churches or in buildings leased by churches. Although the bill specifies that day-care funds could not go to facilities where religion is taught, critics say that tougher safeguards are needed.

Parental Leaves

Sponsors are more optimistic, however, about a bill requiring federal and private employers to grant their workers unpaid parental and medical leave when children are born or become seriously ill. Although the Reagan Administration opposes the legislation, Democrats believe that it has strong election-year appeal and may schedule a vote sometime in the next two weeks.