[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6422 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6422

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) to 
 reflect the actual costs of living in various regions of the country 
   and to bring the minimum to a fair wage that can support federal 
              workers and contractors and their families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2006

 Ms. McKinney 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 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) to 
 reflect the actual costs of living in various regions of the country 
   and to bring the minimum to a fair wage that can support federal 
              workers and contractors and their families.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    (a) Over 10% of Federal Contract workers earn below poverty level 
wages.
    (b) The majority of federal contractors paying poverty level wages 
are defense contractors (62%).
    (c) Most contractors are large businesses (59%), not small 
businesses or nonprofit organizations.
    (d) Over a quarter of one million direct federal workers work at 
poverty level wages. (EPI Study released in 2000)
    (e) Since members of Congress last voted to boost minimum wages, 
they have raised their own pay by 23%. (Christian Science Monitor 1/30/
06)
    (f) While real income is declining for working families, top 
corporate executives receive an average 431 times the salary of a 
worker in his or her company. (Christian Science Monitor 1/30/06)
    (g) A graduated increase of the minimum wage proposed in current 
pending legislation from $5.85/hr. to $7.25/hr. does not bring the 
annual income of a family of four above the poverty line.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.

    (a) In General.--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, not less 
        than an hourly wage (or salary equivalent) sufficient for a 
        worker to earn, while working 40 hours a week on a full-time 
        basis, equal to or above what it would cost to cover the cost 
        of housing, food, childcare, transportation and healthcare 
        needs of a family of four based on the regional or municipal 
        cost of living; and
            (2) an additional amount, determined by the Secretary based 
        on the locality in which a worker resides, sufficient to cover 
        the costs to such worker to obtain any fringe benefits not 
        provided by the worker's employer; and
            (3) an hourly wage that will be adjusted annually in accord 
        with Federal Cost of Living Adjustments; and that
            (4) the hourly wage for Federal Workers and Contract 
        Workers will increase by the same percentage as the 
        Congressional pay raise whenever Congress votes to raise their 
        salaries above COLA.
            (5) Effective date.--The amendment made by section (a) 
        above shall take effect 60 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act; and
    (b) In General.--Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 206) shall apply to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands.
            (1) Transition.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), the 
        minimum wage applicable to the Commonwealth of the Northern 
        Mariana Islands under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 
        Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) shall be--
                    (a) except as otherwise provided in this section, 
                not less than an hourly wage (or salary equivalent) 
                sufficient for a worker to earn, while working 40 hours 
                a week on a full-time basis, equal to or above what it 
                would cost to cover the cost of housing, food, 
                childcare, transportation and healthcare needs of a 
                family of four based on the regional or municipal cost 
                of living; and
                    (b) an additional amount, determined by the 
                Secretary based on the locality in which a worker 
                resides, sufficient to cover the costs to such worker 
                to obtain any fringe benefits not provided by the 
                worker's employer; and
                    (c) an hourly wage that will be adjusted annually 
                in accord with federal Cost of Living Adjustments; and 
                that
                    (d) the hourly wage for Federal Workers and 
                Contract Workers will increase by the same percentage 
                as the Congressional pay raise whenever Congress votes 
                to raise their salaries above COLA.
            (2) Any items produced or manufactured displaying a ``Made 
        in the USA'' label must be compensated with an hourly wage that 
        complies with the federally mandated minimum wage standards in 
        section (b) above.
            (3) Effective date.--The amendment made by section (b) 
        above shall take effect 60 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act.
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