Washington – Congress is spending its last working days before a long summer break attending to pocketbook issues, with votes to increase the minimum wage, cut estate taxes and shore up pensions.
The hope is to grab voters’ attention as lawmakers campaign though August, leading to a fall election with control of Congress at stake.
Part of that campaigning is likely to focus on the bill linking the fates of a minimum-wage increase and estate-tax reductions.
The GOP-controlled House tied the minimum wage and estate-tax measures, leading opponents to protest that Republicans had passed a minimum-wage increase that is doomed to fail in the Senate.
Whether any of the initiatives becomes more than fodder for speeches depends on the Senate, still at work for an extra week after the House left for its break through Labor Day.
A bill passed by the House that overhauls pension laws stands the best chance of getting to President Bush. Supporters said the measure would strengthen plans that cover 44 million people, and they expect the Senate to pass it this week.
In the works for years, the legislation is particularly urgent for several airlines that have threatened to terminate pension plans. The bill gives the carriers special repayment terms.
In addition, employers that have fallen behind in their defined-benefit pension payments would have to catch up within seven years. The bill also would close loopholes that have allowed companies to underfund their plans by an estimated $450 billion.
Less certain of passing is a House bill that combines an increase in the federal minimum wage with a tax cut on multimillion-dollar estates.
For Democratic senators, the bill offers the uneasy choice of accepting an estate-tax cut or rejecting a minimum-wage increase.
About the minimum-wage bill
Major provisions in a House bill to raise the federal minimum wage and reduce taxes:
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
