[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2812 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2812

 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the Federal 
minimum wage to the value it had in 1968, and to provide for increases 
               in such wage based on the cost of living.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 2, 2001

  Mr. Sanders (for himself, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. Lee, Ms. McKinney, Mr. 
   Owens, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. 
 Costello, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Filner, Mr. Kildee, Ms. Norton, 
   Mr. Serrano, Ms. Solis, Mr. Stark, and Mr. Weiner) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the Federal 
minimum wage to the value it had in 1968, and to provide for increases 
               in such wage based on the cost of living.

    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 ``Minimum Wage Restoration Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Federal minimum wage has not kept pace with the 
        rising cost of living.
            (2) The Federal minimum wage has lost 37 percent of its 
        purchasing power since 1968, the year in which the purchasing 
        power of the minimum wage reached its highest level.
            (3) The Federal minimum wage in June 2001 would have been 
        $8.14 an hour (compared to its actual level of $5.15 an hour), 
        if it had kept pace with the rising cost of living since 1968.

SEC. 3. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE.

    (a) Rate Increase.--Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) except as otherwise provided in this section--
                    ``(A) during 2001, not less than $5.15 an hour;
                    ``(B) beginning January 1, 2002, not less than 
                $6.65 an hour;
                    ``(C) beginning January 1, 2003, not less than 
                $8.15 an hour;
                    ``(D) beginning in 2004, the amount the Secretary 
                determines under subsection (g), as adjusted for the 
                cost of living;''.
    (b) Cost of Living Increase.--Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection:
    ``(g)(1) Beginning in 2003, not later than 5 days after the date on 
which the Commissioner of Social Security publishes the applicable 
increase percentage under section 215(i) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 415(i)), the Secretary shall determine and publish the amount of 
the minimum wage applicable for the next calendar year, which shall 
be--
            ``(A) for wages payable in 2004, the rate under subsection 
        (a)(1)(C) increased by the cost of living adjustment applicable 
        between July 1, 2001, and such date of publication by the 
        Commissioner; and
            ``(B) for wages payable in each year after 2004, the rate 
        for the current calendar increased by the cost of living 
        adjustment.
    ``(2) In this subsection and subsection (a)(1), the term `cost of 
living adjustment' means the applicable increase percentage under 
section 215(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)) effective 
for benefits payable in January of the next calendar year.''.
                                 <all>