Fair Wage Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4443 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for a Federal, cost-of-living based minimum wage, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 Mr. FITZPATRICK 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 a Federal, cost-of-living based 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 ‘‘Fair Wage Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. COST-OF-LIVING BASED MINIMUM WAGE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 7 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended 8 to read as follows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4443.IH H4443 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4443 IH ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec- 1 tion, not less than the amount determined by the 2 Secretary under subsection (h) for the metropolitan 3 statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion in 4 which the employer resides;’’. 5 (b) DETERMINATION OF REGIONAL MINIMUM 6 WAGE.—Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 7 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following: 9 ‘‘(h) DETERMINATION OF MINIMUM WAGE.— 10 ‘‘(1)(A) On the effective date of the Fair Wage 11 Act of 2019, the wage determined under this para- 12 graph for a metropolitan statistical area or non- 13 metropolitan portion shall be equal to the result ob- 14 tained— 15 ‘‘(i) by multiplying— 16 ‘‘(I) 40 percent of the national aver- 17 age hourly wage of private sector, non-su- 18 pervisory workers (as reported by the Bu- 19 reau of Labor Statistics of the Department 20 of Labor for the most recent month for 21 which data are available); by 22 ‘‘(II) the adjustment percentage speci- 23 fied in paragraph (2) for the area or por- 24 tion; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4443.IH H4443 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4443 IH ‘‘(ii) by rounding the result obtained under 1 clause (i) to the nearest tenth of a dollar. 2 ‘‘(B) Not later than 1 year after such effective 3 date, subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by sub- 4 stituting ‘45 percent’ for ‘40 percent’. 5 ‘‘(C) Not later than 2 years after such effective 6 date, subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by sub- 7 stituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘40 percent’. 8 ‘‘(D) Not later than 5 years after such effective 9 date, and for each 3-year period thereafter, the wage 10 determined under this paragraph for a metropolitan 11 statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion shall be 12 equal to the greater of— 13 ‘‘(i) the result obtained under subpara- 14 graph (C); or 15 ‘‘(ii) the wage determined under this para- 16 graph for such area or portion for the preceding 17 three-year period. 18 ‘‘(2) The adjustment percentage specified in 19 this paragraph for a metropolitan statistical area or 20 nonmetropolitan portion shall be— 21 ‘‘(A) 87.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta- 22 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 23 regional price parity of less than 90; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4443.IH H4443 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4443 IH ‘‘(B) 92.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta- 1 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 2 regional price parity of less than 95, but not 3 less than 90; 4 ‘‘(C) 100 percent, for a metropolitan sta- 5 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 6 regional price parity of less than 105, but not 7 less than 95; 8 ‘‘(D) 107.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta- 9 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 10 regional price parity of less than 110, but not 11 less than 105; and 12 ‘‘(E) 115 percent, for a metropolitan sta- 13 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 14 regional price parity of not less than 110. 15 ‘‘(3) In this subsection: 16 ‘‘(A) The term ‘metropolitan statistical 17 area’ means a geographic area, defined by the 18 Office of Management and Budget for statis- 19 tical purposes, containing a large population 20 nucleus and adjacent communities having a 21 high degree of social and economic integration 22 with that nucleus. 23 ‘‘(B) The term ‘nonmetropolitan portion’ 24 means any county (or portion thereof) which is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4443.IH H4443 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4443 IH not within a metropolitan statistical area. All 1 nonmetropolitan portions of a State shall be 2 treated, in aggregate, as a single nonmetropoli- 3 tan portion for the State. 4 ‘‘(C) The term ‘regional price parity’ 5 means the regional price parity for a metropoli- 6 tan statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion 7 determined by the Bureau of Economic Anal- 8 ysis of the Department of Commerce for the 9 most recent year for which data are available. 10 In determining regional price parities for pur- 11 poses of this subsection, the Bureau of Eco- 12 nomic Analysis shall use the same methodology 13 used to determine such parities for the most re- 14 cent year for which such parities were reported 15 by the Bureau before the date of the enactment 16 of this subsection.’’. 17 SEC. 3. MINIMUM CASH WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES. 18 Clause (i) of section 3(m)(2)(A) of the Fair Labor 19 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)) is 20 amended by striking ‘‘the cash wage required to be paid 21 such an employee on the date of the enactment of this 22 paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘an amount equal to 30 percent 23 of the wage determined under section 6(a)(1) for the met- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4443.IH H4443 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4443 IH ropolitan statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion 1 in which the employer resides’’. 2 SEC. 4. MINIMUM WAGE FOR NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES 3 WHO ARE 18 YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER. 4 Section 6(g) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 5 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)) is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a wage which 7 is not less than $4.25 an hour’’ and inserting ‘‘a 8 wage which is not less than 2/3 of the wage deter- 9 mined under subsection (a)(1) for the metropolitan 10 statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion in 11 which the employer resides’’; and 12 (2) in paragraph (5)— 13 (A) by striking ‘‘has not attained the age 14 of 20 years’’ and inserting ‘‘is the age of 18 15 years or younger’’; and 16 (B) by striking ‘‘25 years’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘24 years or younger’’. 18 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 19 The amendments and repeals made by this Act shall 20 take effect on the first day of the third month that begins 21 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4443.IH H4443 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS