| | | | | |  | | By Rebecca Rainey | Editor's Note: Weekly Shift is a weekly version of POLITICO Pro's daily Employment & Immigration policy newsletter, Morning Shift. POLITICO Pro is a policy intelligence platform that combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. | | | Welcome back, folks! With the new year comes the start of a new Congress , a Georgia runoff race that will decide control of the Senate and hourly minimum wage hikes in several states. More than three dozen jurisdictions will raise their minimum wage to $15 or more this year — something the labor movement has sought for more than a decade, and a figure that Democrats and President-elect Joe Biden have championed. According to a report from Yannet Lathrop at the left-leaning National Employment Law Project, 20 states and 32 cities and counties raised their minimum wage on Jan. 1. Later this year, another five states and 18 localities are also slated to bump their hourly minimum. And by 2026, 42 percent of U.S. workers will be covered by $15 minimum wage laws, Lathrop writes. Growing momentum to raise the hourly wage at the local level will likely lead to labor and the left further pressuring Biden to hike the federal minimum wage from its current level, $7.25 (last raised in 2009). It's a change that unions and some economists say will uplift workers in low-wage jobs — many of whom work in the sectors hit the hardest by the pandemic. But rallying Congress around a higher federal minimum wage raise will not be easy, and any of Biden's efforts to do so from Biden will no doubt face friction from the business community, which has long opposed the $15 threshold. | 
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris gestures as she speaks at a drive-in rally in Savannah, Ga. | AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton | Even if Democrats win both of the Senate runoff elections in Georgia this week, the chamber would be tied 50-50, requiring Vice President Kamala Harris to break the deadlock. And although the Democratic-controlled House passed a measure to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 in 2019, the effort to whip support around the bill exposed major rifts among moderates in the Democratic caucus. That calculus has also changed: Democrats are also facing a smaller majority in the lower chamber this Congress. Here's a rundown of the state minimum wage changes as of Jan. 1: Arizona: $12.15 California: $14 for large employers, $13 for small employers Colorado: $12.32 Florida: $8.65 (another raise to $10 is scheduled in September) Illinois: $11 Maine: $12.15 Maryland: $11.75 for large employers, $11.60 for small employers Massachusetts: $13.50 Missouri: $10.30 New Jersey: $12 New Mexico: $10.50 New York: $14 in Long Island and Westchester, $12.50 in rest of state Vermont: $11.75 Washington: $13.69 Alaska: $10.34 Arkansas: $11 Minnesota: $10.08 for large employers, $8.21 for small employers Montana: $8.75 Ohio: $8.80 South Dakota: $9.45 GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, Jan. 4 and this is Morning Shift, your tipsheet on employment and immigration news. Send tips, exclusives and suggestions to emueller@politico.com and rrainey@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @Eleanor_Mueller and @RebeccaARainey. | | | TRUMP EXTENDS WORK VISA BAN: President Donald Trump has again extended a freeze on green cards and barred most categories of foreign workers through the end of March, citing the coronavirus pandemic. The proclamation , issued Dec. 31, would continue to block most people from receiving legal permanent residency. Trump also extended a temporary halt on H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, a program popular with the U.S. tech industry, and other temporary work visas, as well as seasonal H-2B visas and the J visas used by live-in child care providers. WHAT WILL BIDEN DO? Biden has vowed to overturn many of Trump's actions to limit immigration but has not directly addressed Trump's coronavirus-related restrictions. After he takes office on Jan. 20, Biden will likely face pressure from business groups, who have warned that Trump's visa crackdown is detrimental to the U.S.' economic recovery. The National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation and TechNet successfully sued to have their members excluded from the restrictions last year. | | | | GET THE BIG PRE-INAUGURATION SCOOPS IN TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: Inauguration Day is quickly approaching. Is the Biden administration ready? Transition Playbook brings you inside the transition and newly forming administration, tracking the latest from Biden world and the transition of power. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter breaks big news and analyzes the appointments, people and emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP: Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a press conference last week that "he has not spoken to anyone in President-elect Joe Biden's administration recently," despite our transition team's reporting that Biden wants to nominate him for Labor secretary, according to the Boston Globe's Boston.com. WHAT ABOUT SU? Biden has been facing pressure from Asian American and Pacific Islander lawmakers and advocacy groups to tap Julie Su, California's labor secretary, for the position. The transition team has "tried to broker a compromise" by considering offering Su the No. 2 position as deputy Labor secretary, according to Bloomberg Law's Ben Penn, "but she's expressed reservations about taking the deputy post." DOWN TO TWO? "Walsh, who's preparing to run for his third term as mayor next year, has been told it's down to him or Su for labor secretary," Penn reports. "Another previous contender for the post, former Obama White House adviser Patrick Gaspard, who is Black, appears to no longer be in top contention, several sources said." RELATED: "Janet Yellen made millions in Wall Street, corporate speeches ," from our transition team | | | NANCY PELOSI AGAIN: "Pelosi reelected speaker despite narrow majority," from our Heather Caygle, Sarah Ferris and Olivia Beavers | | | INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR RULE CLEARS OMB: The White House budget office has wrapped up its review of a rule that would make more workers "independent contractors" under federal law, signalling that the final rule will be published soon. The proposed version of the rule would create an "economic realities" test to determine who should be considered an independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets federal minimum wage and overtime laws. DOL says the rule change will likely cause more companies to use independent contractors — workers who aren't protected by minimum wage laws and don't usually receive benefits, like health insurance or paid time off. Independent contractors are also stuck with the full bill for federal payroll taxes; normally such taxes are split between employers and employees. | | | | A NEW YEAR MEANS A NEW HUDDLE IS HERE: Huddle, our daily congressional must-read, has a new author! Olivia Beavers took the reins this week, and she has the latest news and whispers from the Speakers' Lobby. Don't miss out, subscribe to our Huddle newsletter, the essential guide to all things Capitol Hill. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | JOBS REPORT PREVIEW: On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its December jobs report, and we'll get a glimpse of how the labor market fared last month. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal "expect to see employers added 68,000 new jobs in December, down from 245,000 a month earlier," which would be the worst report since May. Pantheon Macroeconomics analysts were even less optimistic, predicting only 50,000 jobs were added last month and that the unemployment rate will tick up slightly to 6.8 percent, from 6.7 percent in November. AT THE SAME TIME: Initial claims for unemployment benefits are hardly slowing down. Some 787,000 new applications for state unemployment benefits were filed the week of Christmas, a meager decrease of 19,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported last week. Another 308,262 filed new claims in the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program for the self-employed and gig workers. As of mid-December, more than 19.5 million people were receiving unemployment benefits. WAITING FOR THE FALL: "Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, predicted on Thursday that normal life would not resume for most Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic until as late as next fall," our Quint Forgey reports. A MAJOR BUT: That timeline relies on the U.S. "efficiently, quickly and effectively" implementing vaccination programs and "a rather strict adherence" to prevention measures such as hand-washing, mask-wearing and social distancing. MISSING THE TARGET: We're already behind schedule. Fauci's warning came just as the Trump administration missed its year-end goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans. More than 4.2 million have received the first dose of Covid vaccine, while over 13 million doses have been delivered to states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's most recent figures on Sunday. Fauci said he's spoken with officials at Operation Warp Speed and that the administration's desired pace of vaccination will more likely be achieved "as we get into the middle of January, February and March." RELATED: "When will teachers get vaccinated? Some already have — but most are nervously waiting," from The Washington Post | | | ICYMI — CENSUS RUNNING LATE: The Census Bureau missed its Dec. 31 deadline for reporting data used to determine congressional seats, potentially hindering Trump's effort to exclude some undocumented immigrants from the figures used to divvy up House seats, our Matthew Choi reports. The bureau said it's aiming to deliver its population counts for House apportionment "in early 2021, as close to the statutory deadline as possible," marking the first time it will miss the deadline since its 1976 implementation. "Census Bureau documents released by the House Oversight Committee earlier this month show the data may not be delivered until late January — after President-elect Joe Biden gets inaugurated," Matthew reports. That means Biden could subvert Trump's plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count altogether. IT'S A BIG DEAL: Leaving undocumented immigrants out, as Trump has sought, could benefit Republicans by minimizing the reported population in Democratic areas with higher immigrant populations. | | | — "Manufacturers Want Biden to Boost 'Buy American' Practices," from The Wall Street Journal — "'A Slap in the Face': The Pandemic Disrupts Young Oil Careers," from The New York Times — " Ex-Klein staffer sees silver lining in new attempt to dismiss harassment case," from POLITICO —"As Some Deficit Hawks Turn Dove, the New Politics of Debt Are on Display," from The New York Times — ICYMI: "How 6 states and D.C. are taking coronavirus relief into their own hands," from POLITICO — "Their Finances Ravaged, Customers Fear Banks Will Withhold Stimulus Checks," from The New York Times — "2 East Valley school districts are bracing for teacher sickouts amid COVID-19 surge," from The Arizona Republic — " Child labor in palm oil industry tied to Girl Scout cookies," The Associated Press — "5 Anchorwomen to Leave NY1 After Settling Discrimination Suit," from The New York Times — "Six Stories From a Downtown District Show Pandemic's Uneven Toll," from The Wall Street Journal — "Six ways your office will be different in 2021, assuming you ever go back to it," from The Washington Post — "Why Porn Stars Like Me Are Terrified of VP Kamala Harris," from The Daily Beast THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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