I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 122 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide for the calculation 
of the minimum wage based on the Federal supplemental poverty thresh-
old for a renter family of 4, with 2 children under the age of 18, 
as determined by the Bureau of the Census, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2025 
Mr. GREEN of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide for 
the calculation of the minimum wage based on the Fed-
eral supplemental poverty threshold for a renter family 
of 4, with 2 children under the age of 18, as determined 
by the Bureau of the Census, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Original Living Amer-
ican Wage Act’’ or the ‘‘Original LAW Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) 
In 
2022, 
there 
were 
approximately 
37,900,000 Americans living in poverty who were 
denied access to opportunities due to income, hous-
ing, education, jobs, and health care. 
(2) A full-time worker earning the Federal min-
imum wage earns an income that is just $20 above 
the Federal poverty line for a single-person house-
hold and $5,360 below the poverty line for a two- 
person household. 
(3) The average fair market rent for a 1-bed-
room apartment is more than 110 percent of the 
monthly income of a full-time worker earning the 
minimum wage. In comparison, the generally accept-
ed definition of affordability is for a household to 
pay not more than 30 percent of its income on hous-
ing. 
(4) Two full-time workers earning the Federal 
minimum wage earn an income below the national 
housing wage, which is the amount a person must 
earn to afford a 1-bedroom apartment for the aver-
age rental price without spending more than 30 per-
cent of their income. 
(5) In 2023, data from the Living Wage Calcu-
lator of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
indicated that the median average living wage across 
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single adults and single adults with one child span-
ning all 50 States was $26.59 per hour or approxi-
mately $48,154.49 annually. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) the Federal minimum wage should, at a 
minimum, be adjusted any time that inflation rises 
to 5 percent or above over 2 consecutive years so 
that a wage earner’s annual income will be not less 
than 40 percent above the Supplemental Poverty 
Threshold for a renting family of 4, as determined 
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; 
(2) the minimum wage should be set at a level 
high enough to allow 2 full-time minimum wage 
workers to earn an income above the national hous-
ing wage; and 
(3) Congress, any of the several States, the Dis-
trict of Columbia, any territory or possession of the 
United States, any Indian tribe, or any local or mu-
nicipal government of a State may establish a higher 
minimum wage requirement than that established in 
this Act. 
SEC. 3. MINIMUM WAGE. 
Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 206) is amended— 
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(1) in subsection (a)(1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (B); and 
(B) by inserting at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) $10.59 an hour, beginning January 
1, 2026; 
‘‘(E) $14.59 an hour, beginning January 
1, 2027; 
‘‘(F) $18.59 an hour, beginning January 
1, 2028; 
‘‘(G) $22.59 an hour, beginning January 
1, 2029; 
‘‘(H) $26.59 an hour, beginning January 
1, 2030; and 
‘‘(I) the amount determined by the Sec-
retary under subsection (b), beginning January 
1, 2031.’’; and 
(2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c) and inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(b)(1) Subject to paragraph (3), not later than Oc-
tober 1, 2030, and every 7 years thereafter, the Secretary 
shall determine the minimum wage rate applicable under 
subsection (a)(1) based on the formula described in para-
graph (2). The Secretary shall publish such wage rate in 
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the Federal Register not later than November 1 of each 
year in which a minimum wage rate is determined under 
this paragraph. 
‘‘(2) For the 7-year period beginning on January 1, 
2031, and each succeeding 7-year period, the minimum 
wage rate determined by the Secretary under paragraph 
(1) shall be a minimum hourly wage sufficient for a person 
working for such wage for 1,799 hours per year to earn 
an annual income in an amount that is 40 percent higher 
than the Federal supplemental poverty threshold for a 
renter family of 4, with two children under the age of 18, 
as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the 
year preceding the year in which the wage rate is being 
so determined. 
‘‘(3) If the minimum wage rate determined by the 
Secretary under paragraph (1) would result in a lower 
minimum wage rate than the minimum wage rate in effect 
at the time of such determination, the Secretary may not 
adjust the minimum wage rate so in effect.’’. 
Æ 
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