113 HR 229 IH: Original Living American Wage (LAW) Act
U.S. House of Representatives
2013-01-14
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Original Living American Wage (LAW)
Act
.
2.Findings; sense
of Congress
(a)Congress
finds the following:
(1)In 2009, there were over 43,600,000
Americans living in poverty who were separated from the opportunities of the
Nation by their income, their housing, and their access to education, jobs, and
health care.
(2)A full-time worker earning the Federal
minimum wage earns an income below the Federal poverty threshold for a family
of 2, consisting of 1 adult and 1 child.
(3)The average fair market rent for a
1-bedroom apartment is more than 65 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 for a 1-bedroom
apartment, the amount a person needs to earn to afford a 1-bedroom apartment at
average rent.
(b)It is the sense of
Congress that—
(1)the Federal minimum wage should, as a
minimum, be adjusted every 4 years so that a person working for such a wage may
earn an annual income that is not less than 15 percent higher than the Federal
poverty threshold for a family of 2, as determined by the Bureau of the
Census;
(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.
3.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);
(B)by inserting
and
at the end of subparagraph (C); and
(C)by inserting at
the end the following:
(D)not less than the
amount determined by the Secretary under subsection (b), beginning September 1,
2013;
;
and
(2)by redesignating
subsection (b) as subsection (c) and inserting after subsection (a) the
following:
(b)(1)Subject to paragraph
(2), not later than June 1, 2013, and once every 4 years thereafter, the
Secretary shall determine the minimum wage rate applicable under subsection
(a)(1) based on the formula described in paragraph (3). The Secretary shall
publish such wage rate in the Federal Register not later than October 1 of each
year.
(2)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 shall not adjust, pursuant to this subsection, the minimum wage rate
so in effect.
(3)The minimum wage rate determined by the
Secretary under paragraph (1) shall be the minimum hourly wage sufficient for a
person working for such wage for 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, to earn
an annual income in an amount that is 15 percent higher than the Federal
poverty threshold for a family of 2, with one child under the age of 18, and
living in any of the 48 contiguous States, as published by the Bureau of the
Census for the year in which the wage rate is being so
determined.
.