Bush Not Budging on Minimum Wage; Senate Democrats Scaling Back Plan in Attempt to Avert Veto
President Bush vowed to move "not one penny" beyond his proposal for a modest increase in the minimum wage yesterday as Senate Democrats planned to scale back their plan for a larger increase in hopes of reaching a compromise and avoiding a presidential veto.</br></br>Bush's latest veto warning came as the Senate opened debate on the minimum-wage controversy, which is emerging as the first major domestic-policy showdown between the new Republican administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress.</br></br>Bush proposes raising the hourly wage floor by 90 cents to $4.25 by Jan. 1, 1992, while letting employers pay newly hired workers the current minimum of $3.35 for six months under a new "training wage."</br></br>The bill introduced by Senate Democrats would raise the minimum by $1.30 to $4.65 by Oct. 1, 1991, without a subminimum for new workers. But Democrats agreed informally yesterday to reduce their plan in line with legislation approved last month by the House to raise the the pay floor to $4.55 over the same period, with a subminimum limited to a 60-day period for workers who have never been employed before. The Senate Democratic plan also calls for elimination of the subminimum rate a year after the final increase in the regular wage floor.</br></br>Despite the modifications, the Democratic bill appears likely to run afoul of Bush's vow to veto anything that goes beyond his initial proposal. "The president made it abundantly clear there will be absolutely no flexibility-not one penny, not one deviation-in the training period," said House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.) after a meeting between Bush and GOP lawmakers.