Cooper calls minimum wage, estate tax bill “political trick”

The Senate is discussing a bill this week that would increase the minimum wage by 2 dollars and 10 cents over the next 3 years. The bill also significantly cuts the estate tax and changes pension law.

The House voted mainly along party lines last Friday, advancing the bill in a 230 to 180 vote, with most Republicans in favor. Nashville Democrat Jim Cooper was the only representative from Tennessee who voted against the bill.

Cooper says he is in favor of a minimum wage increase but not at the expense of lumping in non-related issues such as the estate tax cut, which he says favors the rich.

“I don’t think the senate will go for that political trick. You know, we should have stand alone votes on different measures and let each measure rise or fall so the people back home can see what you’re voting on. Don’t put a hundred things together in some sort of stew or soup and call that a good bill, because there’s no accountability, there’s no way to see how your representative feels on each measure.”

The Senate could vote on the bill this week.