Raise the Wage Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 150 To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 16, 2019 Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Raise the Wage Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 150 IS SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 2 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec- 5 tion, not less than— 6 ‘‘(A) $8.55 an hour, beginning on the ef- 7 fective date under section 7 of the Raise the 8 Wage Act; 9 ‘‘(B) $9.85 an hour, beginning 1 year after 10 such effective date; 11 ‘‘(C) $11.15 an hour, beginning 2 years 12 after such effective date; 13 ‘‘(D) $12.45 an hour, beginning 3 years 14 after such effective date; 15 ‘‘(E) $13.75 an hour, beginning 4 years 16 after such effective date; 17 ‘‘(F) $15.00 an hour, beginning 5 years 18 after such effective date; and 19 ‘‘(G) beginning on the date that is 6 years 20 after such effective date, and annually there- 21 after, the amount determined by the Secretary 22 under subsection (h);’’. 23 (b) DETERMINATION BASED ON INCREASE IN THE 24 MEDIAN HOURLY WAGE OF ALL EMPLOYEES.—Section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 150 IS 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 1 206) is amended by adding at the end the following: 2 ‘‘(h)(1) Not later than each date that is 90 days be- 3 fore a new minimum wage determined under subsection 4 (a)(1)(G) is to take effect, the Secretary shall determine 5 the minimum wage to be in effect under this subsection 6 for each period described in subsection (a)(1)(G). The 7 wage determined under this subsection for a year shall 8 be— 9 ‘‘(A) not less than the amount in effect under 10 subsection (a)(1) on the date of such determination; 11 ‘‘(B) increased from such amount by the annual 12 percentage increase, if any, in the median hourly 13 wage of all employees as determined by the Bureau 14 of Labor Statistics; and 15 ‘‘(C) rounded up to the nearest multiple of 16 $0.05. 17 ‘‘(2) In calculating the annual percentage increase in 18 the median hourly wage of all employees for purposes of 19 paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary, through the Bureau of 20 Labor Statistics, shall compile data on the hourly wages 21 of all employees to determine such a median hourly wage 22 and compare such median hourly wage for the most recent 23 year for which data are available with the median hourly 24 wage determined for the preceding year.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 150 IS SEC. 3. TIPPED EMPLOYEES. 1 (a) BASE MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES 2 AND TIPS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEES.—Section 3 3(m)(2)(A)(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 4 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)(i)) is amended to read as fol- 5 lows: 6 ‘‘(i) the cash wage paid such employee, which 7 for purposes of such determination shall be not less 8 than— 9 ‘‘(I) for the 1-year period beginning on the 10 effective date under section 7 of the Raise the 11 Wage Act, $3.60 an hour; 12 ‘‘(II) for each succeeding 1-year period 13 until the hourly wage under this clause equals 14 the wage in effect under section 6(a)(1) for 15 such period, an hourly wage equal to the 16 amount determined under this clause for the 17 preceding year, increased by the lesser of— 18 ‘‘(aa) $1.50; or 19 ‘‘(bb) the amount necessary for the 20 wage in effect under this clause to equal 21 the wage in effect under section 6(a)(1) for 22 such period, rounded up to the nearest 23 multiple of $0.05; and 24 ‘‘(III) for each succeeding 1-year period 25 after the increase made pursuant to subclause 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 150 IS (II), the minimum wage in effect under section 1 6(a)(1); and’’. 2 (b) TIPS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEES.—Section 3 3(m)(2)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 4 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)) is amended— 5 (1) in the second sentence of the matter fol- 6 lowing clause (ii), by striking ‘‘of this subsection, 7 and all tips received by such employee have been re- 8 tained by the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘of this sub- 9 section. Any employee shall have the right to retain 10 any tips received by such employee’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An em- 12 ployer shall inform each employee of the right and 13 exception provided under the preceding sentence.’’. 14 (c) SCHEDULED REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM 15 WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES.— 16 (1) TIPPED EMPLOYEES.—Section 3(m)(2)(A) 17 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 18 203(m)(2)(A)), as amended by subsections (a) and 19 (b), is further amended by striking the sentence be- 20 ginning with ‘‘In determining the wage an employer 21 is required to pay a tipped employee,’’ and all that 22 follows through ‘‘of this subsection.’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘The wage required to be paid to a tipped employee 24 shall be the wage set forth in section 6(a)(1).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 150 IS (2) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Subsection (i) 1 of section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 2 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), as amended by section 5, is 3 further amended by striking ‘‘or in accordance with 4 subclause (II) or (III) of section 3(m)(2)(A)(i)’’. 5 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 6 by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall take effect on the 7 date that is one day after the date on which the 8 hourly wage under subclause (III) of section 9 3(m)(2)(A)(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 10 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)(i)), as amended by 11 subsection (a), takes effect. 12 SEC. 4. NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LESS THAN 20 13 YEARS OLD. 14 (a) BASE MINIMUM WAGE FOR NEWLY HIRED EM- 15 PLOYEES WHO ARE LESS THAN 20 YEARS OLD.—Section 16 6(g)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 17 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘a wage which 18 is not less than $4.25 an hour.’’ and inserting the fol- 19 lowing: ‘‘a wage at a rate that is not less than— 20 ‘‘(A) for the 1-year period beginning on the ef- 21 fective date under section 7 of the Raise the Wage 22 Act, $5.50 an hour; 23 ‘‘(B) for each succeeding 1-year period until the 24 hourly wage under this paragraph equals the wage 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 150 IS in effect under section 6(a)(1) for such period, an 1 hourly wage equal to the amount determined under 2 this paragraph for the preceding year, increased by 3 the lesser of— 4 ‘‘(i) $1.25; or 5 ‘‘(ii) the amount necessary for the wage in 6 effect under this paragraph to equal the wage 7 in effect under section 6(a)(1) for such period, 8 rounded up to the nearest multiple of $0.05; 9 and 10 ‘‘(C) for each succeeding 1-year period after the 11 increase made pursuant to subparagraph (B)(ii), the 12 minimum wage in effect under section 6(a)(1).’’. 13 (b) SCHEDULED REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM 14 WAGE FOR NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LESS 15 THAN 20 YEARS OLD.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(g)(1) of the Fair 17 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 18 206(g)(1)), as amended by subsection (a), shall be 19 repealed. 20 (2) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Subsection (i) 21 of section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 22 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), as amended by section 23 3(c)(2), is further amended by striking ‘‘or subpara- 24 graph (B) or (C) of subsection (g)(1),’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 150 IS (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal and amend- 1 ment made by paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, 2 shall take effect on the date that is one day after the 3 date on which the hourly wage under subparagraph 4 (C) of section 6(g)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards 5 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)), as amended by 6 subsection (a), takes effect. 7 SEC. 5. PUBLICATION OF NOTICE. 8 Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 9 (29 U.S.C. 206), as amended by the preceding sections, 10 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(i) Not later than 60 days prior to the effective date 12 of any increase in the required wage determined under 13 subsection (a)(1) or subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection 14 (g)(1), or in accordance with subclause (II) or (III) of sec- 15 tion 3(m)(2)(A)(i) or section 14(c)(1)(A), the Secretary 16 shall publish in the Federal Register and on the website 17 of the Department of Labor a notice announcing each in- 18 crease in such required wage.’’. 19 SEC. 6. PROMOTING ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOR IN- 20 DIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 21 (a) WAGES.— 22 (1) TRANSITION TO FAIR WAGES FOR INDIVID- 23 UALS WITH DISABILITIES.—Subparagraph (A) of 24 section 14(c)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 150 IS 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)(1)) is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 ‘‘(A) at a rate that equals, or exceeds, for each 3 year, the greater of— 4 ‘‘(i)(I) $4.25 an hour, beginning 1 year 5 after the date the wage rate specified in section 6 6(a)(1)(A) takes effect; 7 ‘‘(II) $6.40 an hour, beginning 2 years 8 after such date; 9 ‘‘(III) $8.55 an hour, beginning 3 years 10 after such date; 11 ‘‘(IV) $10.70 an hour, beginning 4 years 12 after such date; 13 ‘‘(V) $12.85 an hour, beginning 5 years 14 after such date; and 15 ‘‘(VI) the wage rate in effect under section 16 6(a)(1), on the date that is 6 years after the 17 date the wage specified in section 6(a)(1)(A) 18 takes effect; or 19 ‘‘(ii) if applicable, the wage rate in effect 20 on the day before the date of enactment of the 21 Raise the Wage Act for the employment, under 22 a special certificate issued under this para- 23 graph, of the individual for whom the wage rate 24 is being determined under this subparagraph,’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 150 IS (2) PROHIBITION ON NEW SPECIAL CERTIFI- 1 CATES; SUNSET.—Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor 2 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)) (as 3 amended by paragraph (1)) is further amended by 4 adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(6) PROHIBITION ON NEW SPECIAL CERTIFI- 6 CATES.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary 7 shall not issue a special certificate under this subsection 8 to an employer that was not issued a special certificate 9 under this subsection before the date of enactment of the 10 Raise the Wage Act. 11 ‘‘(7) SUNSET.—Beginning on the day after the date 12 on which the wage rate described in paragraph 13 (1)(A)(i)(VI) takes effect, the authority to issue special 14 certificates under paragraph (1) shall expire, and no spe- 15 cial certificates issued under paragraph (1) shall have any 16 legal effect. 17 ‘‘(8) TRANSITION ASSISTANCE.—Upon request, the 18 Secretary shall provide— 19 ‘‘(A) technical assistance and information to 20 employers issued a special certificate under this sub- 21 section for the purposes of— 22 ‘‘(i) transitioning the practices of such em- 23 ployers to comply with this subsection, as 24 amended by the Raise the Wage Act; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 150 IS ‘‘(ii) ensuring continuing employment op- 1 portunities for individuals with disabilities re- 2 ceiving a special minimum wage rate under this 3 subsection; and 4 ‘‘(B) information to individuals employed at a 5 special minimum wage rate under this subsection, 6 which may include referrals to Federal or State enti- 7 ties with expertise in competitive integrated employ- 8 ment.’’. 9 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 10 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of en- 11 actment of this Act. 12 (b) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.— 13 (1) AMENDMENT.—Subsection (i) of section 6 14 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 15 206), as amended by section 4(b)(2), is further 16 amended by striking ‘‘or section 14(c)(1)(A),’’. 17 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 18 by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the day after 19 the date on which the wage rate described in para- 20 graph (1)(A)(i)(VI) of section 14(c) of the Fair 21 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)), as 22 amended by subsection (a)(1), takes effect. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 150 IS SEC. 7. GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE. 1 Except as otherwise provided in this Act or the 2 amendments made by this Act, this Act and the amend- 3 ments made by this Act shall take effect on the first day 4 of the third month that begins after the date of enactment 5 of this Act. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S150.IS S150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS