I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4443 

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 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 

Mr. FITZPATRICK 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 ‘‘Fair Wage Act of 

5 2019’’. 

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

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

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

9 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec2 tion, not less than the amount determined by the 

3 Secretary under subsection (h) for the metropolitan 

4 statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion in 

5 which the employer resides;’’. 

6 (b) DETERMINATION OF REGIONAL MINIMUM

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

8 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

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

11 ‘‘(1)(A) On the effective date of the Fair Wage 

12 Act of 2019, the wage determined under this para13 graph for a metropolitan statistical area or non14 metropolitan portion shall be equal to the result ob15 tained— 

16 ‘‘(i) by multiplying— 

17 ‘‘(I) 40 percent of the national aver18 age hourly wage of private sector, non-su19 pervisory workers (as reported by the Bu20 reau of Labor Statistics of the Department 

21 of Labor for the most recent month for 

22 which data are available); by 

23 ‘‘(II) the adjustment percentage speci24 fied in paragraph (2) for the area or por25 tion; and 


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

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

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

4 date, subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by sub5 stituting ‘45 percent’ for ‘40 percent’. 

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

7 date, subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by sub8 stituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘40 percent’. 

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

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

11 determined under this paragraph for a metropolitan 

12 statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion shall be 

13 equal to the greater of— 

14 ‘‘(i) the result obtained under subpara15 graph (C); or 

16 ‘‘(ii) the wage determined under this para17 graph for such area or portion for the preceding 

18 three-year period. 

19 ‘‘(2) The adjustment percentage specified in 

20 this paragraph for a metropolitan statistical area or 

21 nonmetropolitan portion shall be— 

22 ‘‘(A) 87.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta23 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

24 regional price parity of less than 90; 


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1 ‘‘(B) 92.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta2 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

3 regional price parity of less than 95, but not 

4 less than 90; 

5 ‘‘(C) 100 percent, for a metropolitan sta6 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

7 regional price parity of less than 105, but not 

8 less than 95; 

9 ‘‘(D) 107.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta10 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

11 regional price parity of less than 110, but not 

12 less than 105; and 

13 ‘‘(E) 115 percent, for a metropolitan sta14 tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 

15 regional price parity of not less than 110. 

16 ‘‘(3) In this subsection: 

17 ‘‘(A) The term ‘metropolitan statistical 

18 area’ means a geographic area, defined by the 

19 Office of Management and Budget for statis20 tical purposes, containing a large population 

21 nucleus and adjacent communities having a 

22 high degree of social and economic integration 

23 with that nucleus. 

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

25 means any county (or portion thereof) which is 


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1 not within a metropolitan statistical area. All 

2 nonmetropolitan portions of a State shall be 

3 treated, in aggregate, as a single nonmetropoli4 tan portion for the State. 

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

6 means the regional price parity for a metropoli7 tan statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion 

8 determined by the Bureau of Economic Anal9 ysis of the Department of Commerce for the 

10 most recent year for which data are available. 

11 In determining regional price parities for pur12 poses of this subsection, the Bureau of Eco13 nomic Analysis shall use the same methodology 

14 used to determine such parities for the most re15 cent year for which such parities were reported 

16 by the Bureau before the date of the enactment 

17 of this subsection.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. MINIMUM CASH WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES. 

19 Clause (i) of section 3(m)(2)(A) of the Fair Labor 

20 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)) is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘the cash wage required to be paid 

22 such an employee on the date of the enactment of this 

23 paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘an amount equal to 30 percent 

24 of the wage determined under section 6(a)(1) for the metVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4443.IH H4443

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1 ropolitan statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion 

2 in which the employer resides’’. 

3 SEC. 4. MINIMUM WAGE FOR NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES 

4 WHO ARE 18 YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER. 

5 Section 6(g) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

6 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a wage which 

8 is not less than $4.25 an hour’’ and inserting ‘‘a 

9 wage which is not less than 2/3 of the wage deter10 mined under subsection (a)(1) for the metropolitan 

11 statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion in 

12 which the employer resides’’; and 

13 (2) in paragraph (5)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘has not attained the age 

15 of 20 years’’ and inserting ‘‘is the age of 18 

16 years or younger’’; and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘25 years’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘24 years or younger’’. 

19 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 The amendments and repeals made by this Act shall 

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

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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