Republicans in Virginia’s House of Delegates have advanced legislation seeking to freeze a staggered minimum wage increase approved by Democrats nearly two years ago. Their efforts are likely to meet a wall of resistance in the state Senate, where Democrats have already rejected efforts to undo one of their signature accomplishments while in the majority.

Legislation carried by Del. Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper) would halt Virginia’s minimum wage at its current level of $11 an hour. In floor debate on Monday, Freitas reiterated points his party made in resisting the gradual increase passed by Democrats in 2020. He argued that while increasing the wage seemed like a straightforward moral argument, it actually represented an artificial floor that injected government into the labor market, hurting workers’ ability to take jobs they wanted.

“Why not $25, why not $50, why not $100?” Freitas asked. “Why don’t we just mandate as a body that everyone in the commonwealth of Virginia be wealthy?”

Current state law calls for the wage to rise to $12 an hour next year. And if the legislature signs off during its 2024 session,the wage could continue to rise to $15 by Jan. 1, 2026 and be pegged to inflation beyond that.

Democrats argued the pandemic and rising inflation made preserving the increase all the more urgent. In a floor speech, freshman Del. Angela Graves (D-Norfolk) made a moral pitch for hiking the wage.

“A vote against increasing the minimum wage is a vote against the most...

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