Fight for a Modern Minimum Wage Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3728 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for the adjust- ment of the minimum wage rate and to provide a regional minimum wage option, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 11, 2019 Mr. ROONEY of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for the adjustment of the minimum wage rate and to provide a regional minimum wage option, 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 ‘‘Fight for a Modern 4 Minimum Wage Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3728.IH H3728 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3728 IH SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS 1 ACT OF 1938. 2 (a) MINIMUM WAGE RATE.—Section 6(a)(1) of the 3 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) 4 is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec- 6 tion, not less than— 7 ‘‘(A) $8.50 an hour, beginning on January 8 1, 2020; and 9 ‘‘(B) beginning on the date that is 5 years 10 after the date under subparagraph (A), and 11 quinquennially thereafter, the amount deter- 12 mined by the Secretary under subsection (h);’’. 13 (b) WAGE RATE ADJUSTMENT AND REGIONAL MIN- 14 IMUM WAGE.—Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act 15 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end 16 the following: 17 ‘‘(h)(1) Not later than 1 year before a new minimum 18 wage rate determined under subsection (a)(1)(B) is to 19 take effect, the Secretary shall determine the minimum 20 wage rate to be in effect pursuant to this subsection for 21 the subsequent 5-year period. The minimum wage rate de- 22 termined pursuant to this subsection for a year shall be— 23 ‘‘(A) not less than the amount in effect under 24 subsection (a)(1) on the date of such determination; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3728.IH H3728 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3728 IH ‘‘(B) increased from such amount by the annual 1 percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index 2 Research Series Using Current Methods, or its suc- 3 cessor publication, as determined by the Bureau of 4 Labor Statistics; and 5 ‘‘(C) rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05. 6 ‘‘(2) In calculating the annual percentage increase in 7 the Consumer Price Index Research Series Using Current 8 Methods for the purposes of paragraph (1)(B), the Sec- 9 retary shall compare such Consumer Price Index Research 10 Series Using Current Methods for the most recent month, 11 quarter, or year available (as selected by the Secretary 12 prior to the first year for which a minimum wage is in 13 effect pursuant to this subsection) with the Consumer 14 Price Index Research Series Using Current Methods for 15 the same month in the last year in which the minimum 16 wage rate under subsection (a)(1) was updated, the same 17 quarter in such year, or such year, respectively. 18 ‘‘(i)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(1), the wage 19 rate in effect under subsection (a) for a State or locality 20 shall be the regional minimum wage rate set by the Sec- 21 retary for such State or locality under paragraph (2) with 22 respect to such State or locality if— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3728.IH H3728 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3728 IH ‘‘(A) such State or locality opts for such re- 1 gional minimum wage rate and notifies the Sec- 2 retary; and 3 ‘‘(B) such regional minimum wage rate is not 4 less than the wage rate in effect under subsection 5 (a)(1). 6 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 1 year before a new minimum 7 wage rate determined under subsection (a)(1)(B) is to 8 take effect, the Secretary shall determine the regional 9 minimum wage rate for each State and locality under this 10 subsection. 11 ‘‘(B) With respect to a State, the regional minimum 12 wage rate shall be equal to— 13 ‘‘(i) the amount to take effect under subsection 14 (a)(1)(B); 15 ‘‘(ii) adjusted by the percentage difference be- 16 tween the most recent regional price parity with re- 17 spect to such State and the national price level, pub- 18 lished by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the 19 Department of Commerce; and 20 ‘‘(iii) rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05. 21 ‘‘(C) With respect to a locality, the regional minimum 22 wage rate shall be equal to— 23 ‘‘(i) the amount to take effect under (a)(1)(B); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3728.IH H3728 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3728 IH ‘‘(ii) adjusted by the percentage difference be- 1 tween the most recent regional price parity with re- 2 spect to the metropolitan statistical area in which 3 such locality is located, or if the locality is not lo- 4 cated within a metropolitan statistical area, with re- 5 spect to the State in which the locality is located, 6 and the national price level, published by the Bureau 7 of Economic Analysis of the Department of Com- 8 merce; and 9 ‘‘(iii) rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05. 10 ‘‘(3) A locality may not opt for the regional minimum 11 wage under paragraph (1)— 12 ‘‘(A) if such locality is located in a State with 13 a law that prohibits any locality within such State 14 from adopting a minimum wage rate that is higher 15 than a specified rate; and 16 ‘‘(B) such specified rate is less than the re- 17 gional minimum wage rate for such locality deter- 18 mined by the Secretary under paragraph (2).’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3728.IH H3728 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS