I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2080 

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 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Ms. SEWELL of Alabama (for herself, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. 

PETERS, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. BERA, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. KENDRA S. 

HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. GONZALEZ of 

Texas, Ms. SLOTKIN, and Miss RICE of New York) 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. 

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 ‘‘Paying Hourly Ameri5 cans Stronger Earnings (PHASE) in $15 Wage Act’’. 


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

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

3 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended 

4 to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec6 tion, not less than the amount determined by the 

7 Secretary under subsection (h) for the metropolitan 

8 statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion in 

9 which the employer resides;’’. 

10 (b) DETERMINATION OF REGIONAL MINIMUM

11 WAGE.—Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

12 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(h) DETERMINATION OF MINIMUM WAGE.— 

15 ‘‘(1)(A) On the effective date of the Paying 

16 Hourly Americans Stronger Earnings (PHASE) in 

17 $15 Wage Act, the wage determined under this 

18 paragraph for a metropolitan statistical area or non19 metropolitan portion shall be equal to the result ob20 tained— 

21 ‘‘(i) by multiplying— 

22 ‘‘(I) 40 percent of the national aver23 age hourly wage of private sector, non-su24 pervisory workers (as reported by the Bu25 reau of Labor Statistics of the Department 


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1 of Labor for the most recent month for 

2 which data are available); by 

3 ‘‘(II) the adjustment percentage speci4 fied in paragraph (2) for the area or por5 tion; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) by rounding the result obtained under 

7 clause (i) to the nearest tenth of a dollar. 

8 ‘‘(B) Not later than 1 year after such effective 

9 date, subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by sub10 stituting ‘45 percent’ for ‘40 percent’. 

11 ‘‘(C) Not later than 2 years after such effective 

12 date, subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by sub13 stituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘40 percent’. 

14 ‘‘(D) Not later than 5 years after such effective 

15 date, and for each 3-year period thereafter, the wage 

16 determined under this paragraph for a metropolitan 

17 statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion shall be 

18 equal to the greater of— 

19 ‘‘(i) the result obtained under subpara20 graph (C); or 

21 ‘‘(ii) the wage determined under this para22 graph for such area or portion for the preceding 

23 three-year period. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The adjustment percentage specified in 

2 this paragraph for a metropolitan statistical area or 

3 nonmetropolitan portion shall be— 

4 ‘‘(A) 87.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta5 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

6 regional price parity of less than 90; 

7 ‘‘(B) 92.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta8 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

9 regional price parity of less than 95, but not 

10 less than 90; 

11 ‘‘(C) 100 percent, for a metropolitan sta12 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

13 regional price parity of less than 105, but not 

14 less than 95; 

15 ‘‘(D) 107.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta16 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

17 regional price parity of less than 110, but not 

18 less than 105; and 

19 ‘‘(E) 115 percent, for a metropolitan sta20 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

21 regional price parity of not less than 110. 

22 ‘‘(3) In this subsection: 

23 ‘‘(A) The term ‘metropolitan statistical 

24 area’ means a geographic area, defined by the 

25 Office of Management and Budget for statisVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2080.IH H2080

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1 tical purposes, containing a large population 

2 nucleus and adjacent communities having a 

3 high degree of social and economic integration 

4 with that nucleus. 

5 ‘‘(B) The term ‘nonmetropolitan portion’ 

6 means any county (or portion thereof) which is 

7 not within a metropolitan statistical area. All 

8 nonmetropolitan portions of a State shall be 

9 treated, in aggregate, as a single nonmetropoli10 tan portion for the State. 

11 ‘‘(C) The term ‘regional price parity’ 

12 means the regional price parity for a metropoli13 tan statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion 

14 determined by the Bureau of Economic Anal15 ysis of the Department of Commerce for the 

16 most recent year for which data are available. 

17 In determining regional price parities for pur18 poses of this subsection, the Bureau of Eco19 nomic Analysis shall use the same methodology 

20 used to determine such parities for the most re21 cent year for which such parities were reported 

22 by the Bureau before the date of the enactment 

23 of this subsection.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED 

2 EMPLOYEES. 

3 Subparagraph (A) of section 3(m)(2) of the Fair 

4 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)) is 

5 amended to read as follows: ‘‘(A) The wage required to 

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

7 in section 6(a)(1).’’. 

8 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM WAGE FOR NEWLY 

9 HIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LESS THAN 20 

10 YEARS OLD. 

11 Section 6(g)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

12 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)) is repealed. 

13 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

14 The amendments and repeals made by this Act shall 

15 take effect on the first day of the third month that begins 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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