I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2150 

To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. HOYER, Mr. CLYBURN, 

Mr. BECERRA, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Mr. 

ISRAEL, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. BASS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. 

LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. 

SMITH of Washington, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. CLARK

of Massachusetts, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. AGUILAR, Mrs. 

BEATTY, Mr. BERA, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRENDAN F. 

BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON

of Indiana, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CASTRO of 

Texas, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of 

Illinois, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DELANEY, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DEUTCH, 

Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. 

ESHOO, Ms. ESTY, Mr. FARR, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. FRANKEL

of Florida, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. 

GUTIE ́RREZ, Ms. HAHN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HECK of Washington, Mr. 

HIMES, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON

of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 

KILMER, Mr. KIND, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

LEWIS, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MICHELLE

LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 

York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. 

MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEAL, Mr. NOLAN, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, 


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Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. PRICE

of North Carolina, Mr. RANGEL, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. 

RUSH, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. 

SIRES, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKAI, Mr. 

THOMPSON of California, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRES, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. 

VARGAS, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

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.— 

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

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

9 is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec11 tion, not less than— 

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

13 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month 

14 that begins after the date of enactment of the 

15 Raise the Wage Act, whichever date is later; 


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

2 the date the wage specified in subparagraph (A) 

3 takes effect; 

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

5 after such date; 

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

7 after such date; 

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

9 after such date; and 

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

11 after such date, and annually thereafter, the 

12 amount determined by the Secretary pursuant 

13 to subsection (h);’’. 

14 (2) DETERMINATION BASED ON INCREASE IN

15 THE MEDIAN HOURLY WAGE OF ALL EMPLOYEES.— 

16 Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

17 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end 

18 the following: 

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

20 is 90 days before a new minimum wage determined under 

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

22 determine the minimum wage to be in effect pursuant to 

23 this subsection for each period described in subsection 

24 (a)(1)(F). The wage determined pursuant to this sub25 section for a year shall be— 


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

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

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

4 percentage increase in the median hourly wage of all 

5 employees as determined by the Bureau of Labor 

6 Statistics; and 

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

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

9 the median hourly wage of all employees for purposes of 

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

11 Labor Statistics shall compile data on the hourly wages 

12 of all employees to determine such a median hourly wage 

13 and compare such median hourly wage for the most recent 

14 year for which data are available with the median hourly 

15 wage determined for the preceding year.’’. 

16 (b) BASE MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOY17 EES.—Section 3(m)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 

18 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(1)) is amended to read as fol19 lows: 

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

21 for purposes of such determination shall be not less 

22 than— 

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

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

25 month that begins after the date of enactment 


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1 of the Raise the Wage Act, whichever date is 

2 later, $3.15 an hour; 

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

4 until the hourly wage under this paragraph 

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

6 for such period, an hourly wage equal to the 

7 amount determined under this paragraph for 

8 the preceding year, increased by the lesser of— 

9 ‘‘(i) $1.05; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) the amount necessary for the 

11 wage in effect under this paragraph to 

12 equal the wage in effect under section 

13 6(a)(1) for such period, rounded to the 

14 nearest multiple of $0.05; and 

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

16 after the year in which the hourly wage under 

17 this paragraph first equals the wage in effect 

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

19 amount necessary to ensure that the wage in ef20 fect under this paragraph remains equal to the 

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

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

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

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

25 203(m)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the second sentence of the matter fol2 lowing paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘of this sub3 section, and all tips received by such employee have 

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

5 this subsection. Any employee shall have the right to 

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

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An em8 ployer shall inform each employee of the right and 

9 exception provided under the preceding sentence.’’. 

10 (d) SCHEDULED REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM

11 WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES.— 

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

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

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

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

16 by striking the sentence beginning with ‘‘In deter17 mining the wage an employer is required to pay a 

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

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

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

21 set forth in section 6(a)(1).’’. 

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

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

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

25 206(i)), as added by subsection (e), is amended by 


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

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

3 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

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

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

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

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

8 203(m)(1)(C)) takes effect. 

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

10 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (as amended by subsection 

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

12 end the following: 

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

14 of any increase in the minimum wage determined under 

15 subsection (h) or required for tipped employees in accord16 ance with subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 3(m)(1) (as 

17 applicable), the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 

18 Register and on the website of the Department of Labor 

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

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

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

22 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month that begins 

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

24 is later. 

Æ 


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