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As the Democratic-controlled Congress prepares to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package a sticking point in the negotiations is an amendment that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. That would more than double the current federal minimum wage of $7.25, where it has sat since 2009.

Experts discussed the pandemic, how it changed our economic systems and how the policy response will shape our recovery. The panelists included Juliette Tennert, chief economist for the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute; Rodi von Arnim, associate professor of economics at the University of Utah; and Phillip Singer, assistant professor of political science at the University of Utah

In order to head off more Prop 22s, there’s been talk recently from companies, researchers, and some within the labor movement of a sort of grand bargain with Lyft and Uber, whereby drivers would accept that third-category worker status and, in return, be granted what’s known as “sectoral bargaining.” Workers would be granted the right to organize and bargain with the companies — something that, legally, independent contractors cannot do.

Marshall Steinbaum, say taking away debt could boost the economy by freeing people up to spend that money on other things. He said as college has become almost a necessity in landing a job these days, more people go, including a growing percentage from diverse backgrounds and low-income families.

Natalie Gochnour, the state’s top economist, associate dean for the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business and director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, said Utah is positioned to see a significant, upward economic bounce in 2021 and it’s one likely to be driven by multiple factors.