109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5731
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide for the calculation
of the minimum wage based on the Federal poverty guidelines published by
the Department of Health and Human Services.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 29, 2006
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. WATT, Mr. HONDA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO,
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. PASTOR, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of
Texas, Mr. BACA, Mr. REYES, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia,
Mr. WYNN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. LEE, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD,
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. MEEKS
of New York, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. LEWIS
of Georgia, Mr. CLAY, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Ms. KILPATRICK
of Michigan, Mr. OWENS, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. CLEAVER,
Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. GONZALEZ,
Ms. WATSON, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. THOMPSON
of Mississippi, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama,
Mr. RANGEL, Mr. CONYERS, and Mr. CLYBURN) 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 Federal poverty guidelines published by
the Department of Health and Human Services.
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 `Living American Wage (LAW) Act of 2006'.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Federal minimum wage should, as a minimum, be adjusted every 4
years so that a person working for such a wage may earn an annual income
that is not less than 112 percent of the Federal poverty threshold, as
determined by the Census Bureau; and
(2) Congress or any of the several States may establish a higher minimum
wage requirement than that established in this Act.
SEC. 3. MINIMUM WAGE.
Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended--
(1) by amending subsection (a)(1) to read as follows:
`(1) except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than $5.15
an hour beginning September 1, 1997, and not less than the amount determined
by the Secretary under subsection (b) beginning January 1, 2007;'; and
(2) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c) and inserting after
subsection (a) the following:
`(b)(1) Not later than September 1, 2006, and once every 4 years thereafter,
the Secretary shall determine the minimum wage rate applicable under subsection
(a)(1) based on the formula described in paragraph (2). The Secretary shall
publish such wage rate in the Federal Register not later than October 1
of each year. If such determination results in a lower minimum wage than
that then in effect, the Secretary shall not adjust the minimum wage then
in effect pursuant to this subsection.
`(2) The minimum wage rate determined by the Secretary under paragraph (1)
shall be the minimum hourly wage sufficient for a person working for such
wage 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, to earn an annual income in an
amount that is 12 percent higher than the Federal poverty threshold for
a two person household, with one person a child under age 18, and living
in the 48 contiguous States, as published for each such year by the Census
Bureau.'.
END
