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Calendar No. 80 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 846 

To provide fair wages for America’s workers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2005 

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read the first time 

APRIL 20, 2005 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To provide fair wages for America’s workers. 

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

3 TITLE I—OVERTIME RIGHTS 

4 PROTECTION 

5 SEC. 101. CLARIFICATION OF REGULATIONS RELATING TO 

6 OVERTIME COMPENSATION. 

7 Section 13 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

8 (29 U.S.C. 213) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘(k)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subchapter 

2 II of chapter 5 and chapter 7 of title 5, United States 

3 Code (commonly referred to as the Administrative Proce4 dures Act) or any other provision of law, any portion of 

5 the final rule promulgated on April 23, 2004, revising part 

6 541 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, that exempts 

7 from the overtime pay provision of section 7 of this Act 

8 any employee who would not otherwise be exempt if the 

9 regulations in effect on March 31, 2003, remained in ef10 fect, shall have no force or effect and that portion of such 

11 regulations (as in effect on March 31, 2003) that would 

12 prevent such employee from being exempt shall be rein13 stated. 

14 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall adjust the minimum salary 

15 level for exemption under section 13(a)(1) in the following 

16 manner: 

17 ‘‘(A) Not later than 60 days after the date of 

18 enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall in19 crease the minimum salary level for exemption under 

20 subsection (a)(1) for executive, administrative, and 

21 managerial occupations from the level of $155 per 

22 week in 1975 to $591 per week (an amount equal 

23 to the increase in the Employment Cost Index (pub24 lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) for execu-
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1 tive, administrative, and managerial occupations be2 tween 1975 and 2005). 

3 ‘‘(B) Not later than December 31 of the cal4 endar year following the increase required in sub5 paragraph (A), and each December 31 thereafter, 

6 the Secretary shall increase the minimum salary 

7 level for exemption under subsection (a)(1) by an 

8 amount equal to the increase in the Employment 

9 Cost Index for executive, administrative, and mana10 gerial occupations for the year involved.’’. 

11 TITLE II—FAIR MINIMUM WAGE 

12 SEC. 111. MINIMUM WAGE. 

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

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

15 to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec17 tion, not less than— 

18 ‘‘(A) $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th 

19 day after the date of enactment of this para20 graph; 

21 ‘‘(B) $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months 

22 after that 60th day; and 

23 ‘‘(C) $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months 

24 after that 60th day;’’. 
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 subsection (a) shall take effect 60 days after the date of 

3 enactment of this Act. 

4 TITLE III—SENSE OF THE SEN5 ATE REGARDING MULTIEM6 PLOYER PENSION PLANS 

7 SEC. 121. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING MULTIEM8 PLOYER PENSION PLANS. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—The Senate makes the following 

10 findings: 

11 (1) Multiemployer pension plans have been a 

12 major force in the delivery of employee benefits to 

13 active and retired American workers and their de14 pendents for over half a century. 

15 (2) There are approximately 1,700 multiem16 ployer defined benefit pension plans in which ap17 proximately 9,700,000 workers and retirees partici18 pate. 

19 (3) Three-quarters of the approximately 60,000 

20 to 65,000 employers that participate in multiem21 ployer plans have fewer that 100 employees. 

22 (4) Multiemployer plans allow for greater access 

23 and affordability for smaller employers and pension 

24 portability for their employees as they move from 

25 one job to another, and permit workers to earn a 
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1 pension where they might otherwise not be able to 

2 do so. 

3 (5) The 2000–2002 drop in the stock market 

4 and decline in equity values has affected all inves5 tors, including multiemployer plans. 

6 (6) The decline in value sustained by multiem7 ployer defined benefit pension plans have threatened 

8 the stability of this private sector source of secure 

9 retirement income. 

10 (7) Participating employers could face onerous 

11 excise taxes and other penalties as a result of the se12 rious, adverse financial impact due to these market 

13 losses. 

14 (8) In 2004, the United States Senate recog15 nized the severity of this situation and passed by an 

16 overwhelmingly, large bipartisan margin of 86 to 9 

17 temporary relief provisions for single and multiem18 ployer defined benefit pension plans. 

19 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the 

20 Senate that the Senate— 

21 (1) expresses its strong support for multiem22 ployer defined benefit pension plans; 

23 (2) recognizes the importance of an environ24 ment in which multiemployer plans can continue 
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1 their vital role in providing benefits to working men 

2 and women; 

3 (3) recognizes that multiemployer pension plan 

4 relief must be designed for the multiemployer labor5 relations environment that supports the plans; and 

6 (4) supports legislation to strengthen and pro7 tect the viability of multiemployer pension plans for 

8 the continued benefit of current and retired mem9 bers, and their families and survivors, and to 

10 strengthen the ability of all plans to address funding 

11 problems that occur. 

Calendar No. 80 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 846 

A BILL 

To provide fair wages for America’s workers. 

APRIL 20, 2005 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar