HR 122 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
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.
Summary
This bill would establish a new federal minimum wage schedule under the Fair Labor Standards Act, setting rates of $10.59 per hour starting January 1, 2026, and increasing incrementally to $26.59 per hour by January 1, 2030. Beginning in 2031, the Secretary of Labor would determine the minimum wage every 7 years based on a formula requiring the wage to provide an annual income 40 percent higher than the federal supplemental poverty threshold for a renting family of four with two children under 18. The bill protects workers by preventing the minimum wage from decreasing once set, meaning any new determination by the Secretary can only maintain or increase the rate. The bill preserves the authority of states, territories, and local governments to establish their own minimum wage requirements if they are higher than the federal rate.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Green, Al [D-TX-9] (D-TX)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Al Green’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- GREATLAND LIVING $6,300
- NULL $6,000
- SOUTHERN NEWS GROUP $5,450
- Y&K REAL ESTATE $5,000
- TOKYO GARDENS CATERING $5,000
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Al Green → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jan 3, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- Jan 3, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
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.”. <all>
Comments