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. 
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 ‘‘Fair Wage Act of 
2019’’. 
SEC. 2. COST-OF-LIVING BASED MINIMUM WAGE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended 
to read as follows: 
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‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec-
tion, not less than the amount determined by the 
Secretary under subsection (h) for the metropolitan 
statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion in 
which the employer resides;’’. 
(b) 
DETERMINATION
OF
REGIONAL
MINIMUM 
WAGE.—Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(h) DETERMINATION OF MINIMUM WAGE.— 
‘‘(1)(A) On the effective date of the Fair Wage 
Act of 2019, the wage determined under this para-
graph for a metropolitan statistical area or non-
metropolitan portion shall be equal to the result ob-
tained— 
‘‘(i) by multiplying— 
‘‘(I) 40 percent of the national aver-
age hourly wage of private sector, non-su-
pervisory workers (as reported by the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics of the Department 
of Labor for the most recent month for 
which data are available); by 
‘‘(II) the adjustment percentage speci-
fied in paragraph (2) for the area or por-
tion; and 
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‘‘(ii) by rounding the result obtained under 
clause (i) to the nearest tenth of a dollar. 
‘‘(B) Not later than 1 year after such effective 
date, subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by sub-
stituting ‘45 percent’ for ‘40 percent’. 
‘‘(C) Not later than 2 years after such effective 
date, subparagraph (A)(i)(I) shall be applied by sub-
stituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘40 percent’. 
‘‘(D) Not later than 5 years after such effective 
date, and for each 3-year period thereafter, the wage 
determined under this paragraph for a metropolitan 
statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion shall be 
equal to the greater of— 
‘‘(i) the result obtained under subpara-
graph (C); or 
‘‘(ii) the wage determined under this para-
graph for such area or portion for the preceding 
three-year period. 
‘‘(2) The adjustment percentage specified in 
this paragraph for a metropolitan statistical area or 
nonmetropolitan portion shall be— 
‘‘(A) 87.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta-
tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 
regional price parity of less than 90; 
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not within a metropolitan statistical area. All 
nonmetropolitan portions of a State shall be 
treated, in aggregate, as a single nonmetropoli-
tan portion for the State. 
‘‘(C) The term ‘regional price parity’ 
means the regional price parity for a metropoli-
tan statistical area or nonmetropolitan portion 
determined by the Bureau of Economic Anal-
ysis of the Department of Commerce for the 
most recent year for which data are available. 
In determining regional price parities for pur-
poses of this subsection, the Bureau of Eco-
nomic Analysis shall use the same methodology 
used to determine such parities for the most re-
cent year for which such parities were reported 
by the Bureau before the date of the enactment 
of this subsection.’’. 
SEC. 3. MINIMUM CASH WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES. 
Clause (i) of section 3(m)(2)(A) of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘the cash wage required to be paid 
such an employee on the date of the enactment of this 
paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘an amount equal to 30 percent 
of the wage determined under section 6(a)(1) for the met-
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ropolitan statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion 
in which the employer resides’’. 
SEC. 4. MINIMUM WAGE FOR NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES 
WHO ARE 18 YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER. 
Section 6(g) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a wage which 
is not less than $4.25 an hour’’ and inserting ‘‘a 
wage which is not less than 2/3 of the wage deter-
mined under subsection (a)(1) for the metropolitan 
statistical area or the nonmetropolitan portion in 
which the employer resides’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (5)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘has not attained the age 
of 20 years’’ and inserting ‘‘is the age of 18 
years or younger’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘25 years’’ and inserting 
‘‘24 years or younger’’. 
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments and repeals made by this Act shall 
take effect on the first day of the third month that begins 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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