119-hr122

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 122 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 122

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide for the calculation of 
 the minimum wage based on the Federal supplemental poverty threshold 
 for a renter family of 4, with 2 children under the age of 18, as 
 determined by the Bureau of the Census, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 3, 2025

Mr. Green of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
 the Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide for the calculation of 
 the minimum wage based on the Federal supplemental poverty threshold 
 for a renter family of 4, with 2 children under the age of 18, as 
 determined by the Bureau of the Census, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Original Living American Wage Act'' 
or the ``Original LAW Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress finds the following:

    (1) In 2022, there were approximately 37,900,000 Americans 
 living in poverty who were denied access to opportunities due 
 to income, housing, education, jobs, and health care.

    (2) A full-time worker earning the Federal minimum wage 
 earns an income that is just $20 above the Federal poverty line 
 for a single-person household and $5,360 below the poverty line 
 for a two-person household.

    (3) The average fair market rent for a 1-bedroom apartment 
 is more than 110 percent of the monthly income of a full-time 
 worker earning the minimum wage. In comparison, the generally 
 accepted definition of affordability is for a household to pay 
 not more than 30 percent of its income on housing.

    (4) Two full-time workers earning the Federal minimum wage 
 earn an income below the national housing wage, which is the 
 amount a person must earn to afford a 1-bedroom apartment for 
 the average rental price without spending more than 30 percent 
 of their income.

    (5) In 2023, data from the Living Wage Calculator of the 
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicated that the median 
 average living wage across single adults and single adults with 
 one child spanning all 50 States was $26.59 per hour or 
 approximately $48,154.49 annually.

    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--

    (1) the Federal minimum wage should, at a minimum, be 
 adjusted any time that inflation rises to 5 percent or above 
 over 2 consecutive years so that a wage earner's annual income 
 will be not less than 40 percent above the Supplemental Poverty 
 Threshold for a renting family of 4, as determined by the 
 Bureau of Labor Statistics;

    (2) the minimum wage should be set at a level high enough 
 to allow 2 full-time minimum wage workers to earn an income 
 above the national housing wage; and

    (3) Congress, any of the several States, the District of 
 Columbia, any territory or possession of the United States, any 
 Indian tribe, or any local or municipal government of a State 
 may establish a higher minimum wage requirement than that 
 established in this Act.

SEC. 3. MINIMUM WAGE.

 

Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) 
is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (a)

    (1) --
        (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph
        (B) ; and
        (B) by inserting at the end the following:
 ``
            (D) $10.59 an hour, beginning January 1, 2026;
 ``
        (E) $14.59 an hour, beginning January 1, 2027;
 ``
        (F) $18.59 an hour, beginning January 1, 2028;
 ``
        (G) $22.59 an hour, beginning January 1, 2029;
 ``
        (H) $26.59 an hour, beginning January 1, 2030; 
 and
 ``
            (I) the amount determined by the Secretary under 
 subsection

    (b) , beginning January 1, 2031.''; and

    (2) by redesignating subsection

    (b) as subsection
            (c) and 
 inserting after subsection

    (a) the following:
 ``

    (b)

    (1) Subject to paragraph

    (3) , not later than October 1, 2030, 
and every 7 years thereafter, the Secretary shall determine the minimum 
wage rate applicable under subsection

    (a)

    (1) based on the formula 
described in paragraph

    (2) . The Secretary shall publish such wage rate 
in the Federal Register not later than November 1 of each year in which 
a minimum wage rate is determined under this paragraph.
 ``

    (2) For the 7-year period beginning on January 1, 2031, and each 
succeeding 7-year period, the minimum wage rate determined by the 
Secretary under paragraph

    (1) shall be a minimum hourly wage sufficient 
for a person working for such wage for 1,799 hours per year to earn an 
annual income in an amount that is 40 percent higher than the Federal 
supplemental poverty threshold for a renter family of 4, with two 
children under the age of 18, as published by the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics for the year preceding the year in which the wage rate is 
being so determined.
 ``

    (3) If the minimum wage rate determined by the Secretary under 
paragraph

    (1) would result in a lower minimum wage rate than the 
minimum wage rate in effect at the time of such determination, the 
Secretary may not adjust the minimum wage rate so in effect.''.
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