[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4443 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4443

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for a Federal, 
       cost-of-living based minimum wage, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 20, 2019

 Mr. Fitzpatrick introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for a Federal, 
       cost-of-living based minimum wage, 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 ``Fair Wage Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. COST-OF-LIVING BASED MINIMUM WAGE.

    (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 the amount determined by the Secretary under 
        subsection (h) for the metropolitan statistical area or the 
        nonmetropolitan portion in which the employer resides;''.
    (b) Determination of Regional Minimum Wage.--Section 6 of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(h) Determination of Minimum Wage.--
            ``(1)(A) On the effective date of the Fair Wage Act of 
        2019, the wage determined under this paragraph for a 
        metropolitan statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion shall 
        be equal to the result obtained--
                    ``(i) by multiplying--
                            ``(I) 40 percent of the national average 
                        hourly wage of private sector, non-supervisory 
                        workers (as reported by the Bureau of Labor 
                        Statistics of the Department of Labor for the 
                        most recent month for which data are 
                        available); by
                            ``(II) the adjustment percentage specified 
                        in paragraph (2) for the area or portion; and
                    ``(ii) by rounding the result obtained under clause 
                (i) to the nearest tenth of a dollar.
            ``(B) Not later than 1 year after such effective date, 
        subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by substituting `45 
        percent' for `40 percent'.
            ``(C) Not later than 2 years after such effective date, 
        subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by substituting `50 
        percent' for `40 percent'.
            ``(D) Not later than 5 years after such effective date, and 
        for each 3-year period thereafter, the wage determined under 
        this paragraph for a metropolitan statistical area or 
        nonmetropolitan portion shall be equal to the greater of--
                    ``(i) the result obtained under subparagraph (C); 
                or
                    ``(ii) the wage determined under this paragraph for 
                such area or portion for the preceding three-year 
                period.
            ``(2) The adjustment percentage specified in this paragraph 
        for a metropolitan statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion 
        shall be--
                    ``(A) 87.5 percent, for a metropolitan statistical 
                area or nonmetropolitan portion with a regional price 
                parity of less than 90;
                    ``(B) 92.5 percent, for a metropolitan statistical 
                area or nonmetropolitan portion with a regional price 
                parity of less than 95, but not less than 90;
                    ``(C) 100 percent, for a metropolitan statistical 
                area or nonmetropolitan portion with a regional price 
                parity of less than 105, but not less than 95;
                    ``(D) 107.5 percent, for a metropolitan statistical 
                area or nonmetropolitan portion with a regional price 
                parity of less than 110, but not less than 105; and
                    ``(E) 115 percent, for a metropolitan statistical 
                area or nonmetropolitan portion with a regional price 
                parity of not less than 110.
            ``(3) In this subsection:
                    ``(A) The term `metropolitan statistical area' 
                means a geographic area, defined by the Office of 
                Management and Budget for statistical purposes, 
                containing a large population nucleus and adjacent 
                communities having a high degree of social and economic 
                integration with that nucleus.
                    ``(B) The term `nonmetropolitan portion' means any 
                county (or portion thereof) which is not within a 
                metropolitan statistical area. All nonmetropolitan 
                portions of a State shall be treated, in aggregate, as 
                a single nonmetropolitan portion for the State.
                    ``(C) The term `regional price parity' means the 
                regional price parity for a metropolitan statistical 
                area or nonmetropolitan portion determined by the 
                Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of 
                Commerce for the most recent year for which data are 
                available. In determining regional price parities for 
                purposes of this subsection, the Bureau of Economic 
                Analysis shall use the same methodology used to 
                determine such parities for the most recent year for 
                which such parities were reported by the Bureau before 
                the date of the enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 3. MINIMUM CASH WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES.

    Clause (i) of section 3(m)(2)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ``the cash wage 
required to be paid such an employee on the date of the enactment of 
this paragraph'' and inserting ``an amount equal to 30 percent of the 
wage determined under section 6(a)(1) for the metropolitan statistical 
area or the nonmetropolitan portion in which the employer resides''.

SEC. 4. MINIMUM WAGE FOR NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE 18 YEARS OLD OR 
              YOUNGER.

    Section 6(g) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
206(g)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``a wage which is not 
        less than $4.25 an hour'' and inserting ``a wage which is not 
        less than 2/3 of the wage determined under subsection (a)(1) 
        for the metropolitan statistical area or the nonmetropolitan 
        portion in which the employer resides''; and
            (2) in paragraph (5)--
                    (A) by striking ``has not attained the age of 20 
                years'' and inserting ``is the age of 18 years or 
                younger''; and
                    (B) by striking ``25 years'' and inserting ``24 
                years or younger''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments and repeals made by this Act shall take effect on 
the first day of the third month that begins after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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