[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 182 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 182

To provide for a livable wage for employees under Federal contracts and 
                             subcontracts.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 1997

Mr. Gutierrez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for a livable wage for employees under Federal contracts and 
                             subcontracts.

    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 ``Federal Living Wage Responsibility 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) American workers are working harder to make ends meet.
            (2) The wages of many working Americans have not kept pace 
        with the cost of providing for their families.
            (3) The Federal Government provides billions of dollars in 
        subsidies to businesses each year through both spending 
        programs and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
            (4) Recipients of Federal contracts have benefited greatly 
        from the provision of taxpayers' dollars.
            (5) The Congressional Budget Office concluded that the 
        Federal Government spends more than $30 billion a year on 
        spending and credit programs.
            (6) Congress must ensure that Federal dollars are used 
        responsibly to improve the economic security and well-being of 
        Americans across the country.

SEC. 3. POVERTY LEVEL WAGE.

    (a) Requirement.--
            (1) General rule.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), any 
        employer under a Federal contract for an amount exceeding 
        $10,000 or a subcontract under a Federal contract for such an 
        amount shall, except as provided in subsection (b), pay each of 
        the employer's employees working on or hired in conjunction 
        with such contract or subcontract--
                    (A) an hourly wage necessary for such employee to 
                earn, while working 40 hours a week on a full-time 
                basis, the amount of the Federal poverty level for a 
                family of 4 (as published in the Federal Register by 
                the Department of Health and Human Services under the 
                authority of section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget 
                Reconciliation Act of 1981), or
                    (B) $7.50 an hour,
        whichever is greater.
            (2) Exception.--An employer which is--
                    (A) a small business concern as defined under 
                section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632), or
                    (B) a nonprofit organization exempt from Federal 
                income tax under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue 
                Code of 1986 if the ratio of the total compensation of 
                its chief executive officer to the compensation of the 
                full-time equivalent of its lowest paid employee is not 
                greater than 25 to 1,
        shall not be required to pay the wage prescribed by paragraph 
        (1).
            (3) Scope.--An employer may not avoid the requirement of 
        paragraph (1) by laying off or otherwise terminating the 
        employment of an employee with the intention of replacing such 
        employee with an employee who, under subsection (b), is not 
        eligible for the subsection (a) wage.
    (b) Exception.--An employee who is participating in--
            (1) an apprenticeship program, or
            (2) any other training program which does not exceed 6 
        months in duration and which is offered to an employee while 
        employed in productive work that provides training, technical 
        and other related skills, and personal skills that are 
        essential to the full and adequate performance of the 
        employee's employment,
is not eligible for the wage prescribed by subsection (a).
    (c) Contract Requirement.--Any contract between the Federal 
Government and any contractor and any contract between such contractor 
with a subcontractor to carry out work for the Federal Government shall 
require the contractor or subcontractor to pay the wage prescribed by 
subsection (a)(1).
    (d) Enforcement.--
            (1) Suspension.--If an employer does not pay the wage 
        required by subsection (a) the Federal contract or subcontract 
        under which such employer was employing employees shall be 
        suspended.
            (2) Ineligibility.--An employer described in paragraph (1) 
        shall not be eligible for any Federal contract or subcontract 
        for a period of 5 years beginning on the date the employer does 
        not pay the required wage.
            (3) Restitution.--An employer who does not pay the wage 
        required by subsection (a) shall be liable to the United States 
        in an amount equal to the unpaid wages and in addition an equal 
        amount as liquidated damages. The Secretary of Labor shall pay 
        to the employees who were not paid such wage the amount 
        recovered by the United States under this paragraph.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect with respect to Federal contracts 
entered into, renewed, or extended after 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
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