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 fol-
lowing 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 ‘‘Paying Hourly Ameri-
cans Stronger Earnings (PHASE) in $15 Wage Act’’. 
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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: 
‘‘(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 Paying 
Hourly Americans Stronger Earnings (PHASE) in 
$15 Wage Act, the wage determined under this 
paragraph 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 
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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 
‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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; 
‘‘(B) 92.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta-
tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 
regional price parity of less than 95, but not 
less than 90; 
‘‘(C) 100 percent, for a metropolitan sta-
tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 
regional price parity of less than 105, but not 
less than 95; 
‘‘(D) 107.5 percent, for a metropolitan sta-
tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 
regional price parity of less than 110, but not 
less than 105; and 
‘‘(E) 115 percent, for a metropolitan sta-
tistical area or nonmetropolitan portion with a 
regional price parity of not less than 110. 
‘‘(3) In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘metropolitan statistical 
area’ means a geographic area, defined by the 
Office of Management and Budget for statis-
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tical purposes, containing a large population 
nucleus and adjacent communities having a 
high degree of social and economic integration 
with that nucleus. 
‘‘(B) The term ‘nonmetropolitan portion’ 
means any county (or portion thereof) which is 
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.’’. 
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SEC. 3. REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED 
EMPLOYEES. 
Subparagraph (A) of section 3(m)(2) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)) is 
amended to read as follows: ‘‘(A) The wage required to 
be paid to a tipped employee shall be the wage set forth 
in section 6(a)(1).’’. 
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM WAGE FOR NEWLY 
HIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LESS THAN 20 
YEARS OLD. 
Section 6(g)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)) is repealed. 
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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