II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1150 

To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. STABENOW, 

Mr. BROWN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, 

Mr. REID, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. REED, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, 

Mr. CARDIN, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. WARREN, Mr. UDALL, Ms. BALDWIN, 

Mr. KAINE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Raise the Wage Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES. 

6 (a) MINIMUM WAGE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair 

2 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) 

3 is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec5 tion, not less than— 

6 ‘‘(A) $8.00 an hour, beginning on January 

7 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month 

8 that begins after the date of enactment of the 

9 Raise the Wage Act, whichever date is later; 

10 ‘‘(B) $9.00 an hour, beginning 1 year after 

11 the date the wage specified in subparagraph (A) 

12 takes effect; 

13 ‘‘(C) $10.00 an hour, beginning 2 years 

14 after such date; 

15 ‘‘(D) $11.00 an hour, beginning 3 years 

16 after such date; 

17 ‘‘(E) $12.00 an hour, beginning 4 years 

18 after such date; and 

19 ‘‘(F) beginning on the date that is 5 years 

20 after such date, and annually thereafter, the 

21 amount determined by the Secretary pursuant 

22 to subsection (h);’’. 

23 (2) DETERMINATION BASED ON INCREASE IN

24 THE MEDIAN HOURLY WAGE OF ALL EMPLOYEES.— 

25 Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 


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1 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(h)(1) Each year, by not later than the date that 

4 is 90 days before a new minimum wage determined under 

5 subsection (a)(1)(F) is to take effect, the Secretary shall 

6 determine the minimum wage to be in effect pursuant to 

7 this subsection for each period described in subsection 

8 (a)(1)(F). The wage determined pursuant to this sub9 section for a year shall be— 

10 ‘‘(A) not less than the amount in effect under 

11 subsection (a)(1) on the date of such determination; 

12 ‘‘(B) increased from such amount by the annual 

13 percentage increase in the median hourly wage of all 

14 employees as determined by the Bureau of Labor 

15 Statistics; and 

16 ‘‘(C) rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05. 

17 ‘‘(2) In calculating the annual percentage increase in 

18 the median hourly wage of all employees for purposes of 

19 paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary through the Bureau of 

20 Labor Statistics shall compile data on the hourly wages 

21 of all employees to determine such a median hourly wage 

22 and compare such median hourly wage for the most recent 

23 year for which data are available with the median hourly 

24 wage determined for the preceding year.’’. 


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1 (b) BASE MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOY2 EES.—Section 3(m)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 

3 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(1)) is amended to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(1) the cash wage paid such employee, which 

6 for purposes of such determination shall be not less 

7 than— 

8 ‘‘(A) for the 1-year period beginning on 

9 January 1, 2016, or the first day of the third 

10 month that begins after the date of enactment 

11 of the Raise the Wage Act, whichever date is 

12 later, $3.15 an hour; 

13 ‘‘(B) for each succeeding 1-year period 

14 until the hourly wage under this paragraph 

15 equals the wage in effect under section 6(a)(1) 

16 for such period, an hourly wage equal to the 

17 amount determined under this paragraph for 

18 the preceding year, increased by the lesser of— 

19 ‘‘(i) $1.05; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) the amount necessary for the 

21 wage in effect under this paragraph to 

22 equal the wage in effect under section 

23 6(a)(1) for such period, rounded to the 

24 nearest multiple of $0.05; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) for each succeeding 1-year period 

2 after the year in which the hourly wage under 

3 this paragraph first equals the wage in effect 

4 under section 6(a)(1) for the same period, the 

5 amount necessary to ensure that the wage in ef6 fect under this paragraph remains equal to the 

7 wage in effect under section 6(a)(1), rounded to 

8 the nearest multiple of $0.05; and’’. 

9 (c) TIPS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEES.—Section 3(m) 

10 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

11 203(m)) is amended— 

12 (1) in the second sentence of the matter fol13 lowing paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘of this sub14 section, and all tips received by such employee have 

15 been retained by the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘of 

16 this subsection. Any employee shall have the right to 

17 retain any tips received by such employee’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An em19 ployer shall inform each employee of the right and 

20 exception provided under the preceding sentence.’’. 

21 (d) SCHEDULED REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM

22 WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES.— 

23 (1) TIPPED EMPLOYEES.—Effective on the date 

24 described in paragraph (3), section 3(m) of the Fair 

25 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)), 


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1 as amended by subsections (b) and (c), is amended 

2 by striking the sentence beginning with ‘‘In deter3 mining the wage an employer is required to pay a 

4 tipped employee,’’ and all that follows through ‘‘of 

5 this subsection.’’ and inserting ‘‘The wage required 

6 to be paid to a tipped employee shall be the wage 

7 set forth in section 6(a)(1).’’. 

8 (2) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Effective on the 

9 date described in paragraph (3), section 6(i) of the 

10 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

11 206(i)), as added by subsection (e), is amended by 

12 striking ‘‘or required for tipped employees’’ and all 

13 that follows through ‘‘(as applicable)’’. 

14 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

15 by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall take effect on the 

16 date that is one day after the date on which the 

17 hourly wage under section 3(m)(1)(C) of the Fair 

18 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

19 203(m)(1)(C)) takes effect. 

20 (e) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Section 6 of the Fair 

21 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (as amended by subsection 

22 (a)) (29 U.S.C. 206) is further amended by adding at the 

23 end the following: 

24 ‘‘(i) Not later than 60 days prior to the effective date 

25 of any increase in the minimum wage determined under 


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1 subsection (h) or required for tipped employees in accord2 ance with subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 3(m)(1) (as 

3 applicable), the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 

4 Register and on the website of the Department of Labor 

5 a notice announcing the adjusted required wage.’’. 

6 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 subsections (a), (b), and (e) shall take effect on January 

8 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month that begins 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever date 

10 is later. 

Æ 


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