I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 122
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide for the calculation
of the minimum wage based on the Federal poverty threshold for a
family of 4, as determined by the Bureau of the Census.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY9, 2023
Mr. G
REENof Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide for
the calculation of the minimum wage based on the Fed-
eral poverty threshold for a family of 4, as determined
by the Bureau of the Census.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Original Living Wage 4
Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6
(a) F
INDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7
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(1) In 2015, there were approximately 1
43,100,000 Americans living in poverty who were 2
separated from the opportunities of the Nation by 3
their income, their housing, and their access to edu-4
cation, jobs, and health care. 5
(2) A full-time worker earning the Federal min-6
imum wage earns an income below the Federal pov-7
erty threshold for a family of 4, consisting of 2 8
adults and 2 children. 9
(3) The average fair market rent for a 1-bed-10
room apartment is more than 65 percent of the 11
monthly income of a full-time worker earning the 12
minimum wage. In comparison, the generally accept-13
ed definition of affordability is for a household to 14
pay not more than 30 percent of its income on hous-15
ing. 16
(4) Two full-time workers earning the Federal 17
minimum wage earn an income below the national 18
housing wage for a 1-bedroom apartment, the 19
amount a person needs to earn to afford a 1-bed-20
room apartment at average rent. 21
(b) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-22
gress that— 23
(1) the Federal minimum wage should, as a 24
minimum, be adjusted every 4 years so that a person 25
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working for such a wage may earn an annual income 1
that is not less than 25.5 percent higher than the 2
Federal poverty threshold for a family of 4, as deter-3
mined by the Bureau of the Census; 4
(2) the minimum wage should be set at a level 5
high enough to allow 2 full-time minimum wage 6
workers to earn an income above the national hous-7
ing wage; and 8
(3) Congress, any of the several States, the Dis-9
trict of Columbia, any territory or possession of the 10
United States, any Indian tribe, or any local or mu-11
nicipal government of a State may establish a higher 12
minimum wage requirement than that established in 13
this Act. 14
SEC. 3. MINIMUM WAGE. 15
Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 16
(29 U.S.C. 206) is amended— 17
(1) in subsection (a)(1)— 18
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-19
paragraph (B); 20
(B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-21
paragraph (C); and 22
(C) by inserting at the end the following: 23
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‘‘(D) the amount determined by the Sec-1
retary under subsection (b), beginning Sep-2
tember 1, 2023;’’; and 3
(2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-4
section (c) and inserting after subsection (a) the fol-5
lowing: 6
‘‘(b)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), not later than June 7
1, 2023, and once every 4 years thereafter, the Secretary 8
shall determine the minimum wage rate applicable under 9
subsection (a)(1) based on the formula described in para-10
graph (3). The Secretary shall publish such wage rate in 11
the Federal Register not later than October 1 of each year. 12
‘‘(2) If the minimum wage rate determined by the 13
Secretary under paragraph (1) would result in a lower 14
minimum wage rate than the minimum wage rate in effect 15
at the time of such determination, the Secretary may not 16
adjust the minimum wage rate so in effect. 17
‘‘(3) The minimum wage rate determined by the Sec-18
retary under paragraph (1) shall be the minimum hourly 19
wage sufficient for a person working for such wage for 20
40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, to earn an annual 21
income in an amount that is 25.5 percent higher than the 22
Federal poverty threshold for a family of 4, with two chil-23
dren under the age of 18, and living in any of the 48 con-24
tiguous States, as published by the Bureau of the Census 25
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for the year in which the wage rate is being so deter-1
mined.’’. 2
Æ
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