Sponsors (31)
The bill substantially raises and indexes federal minimum wages and expands wage protections for groups like tipped workers, incarcerated people, youth, and workers with disabilities—boosting pay and predictability for many low‑wage workers while imposing higher labor and compliance costs that could lead to reduced hiring, higher prices, and budget pressures for businesses and governments.
Low-wage workers (minimum-wage earners) will receive substantial, phased increases in hourly pay—moving toward $25 for large employers or toward two‑thirds of the national median—raising take‑home pay and reducing poverty risk.
Workers subject to the federal minimum will get automatic, indexed annual increases tied to median wage data and a predictable phase‑in schedule, preserving purchasing power and reducing future legislative uncertainty.
Tipped employees will receive higher guaranteed cash wages, explicit protection of their right to retain tips, and clearer employer notice requirements—improving pay transparency and worker protections with a path to simplify tipped-wage rules over time.
Small employers and low‑skill workers face a high risk that higher mandated wages will lead businesses to reduce hiring, cut hours, accelerate automation, or outsource work, potentially increasing unemployment or fewer entry‑level jobs.
State and local governments, contract providers, and ultimately taxpayers may face significantly higher payroll and contract costs as minimums rise, increasing budgetary pressure or requiring tradeoffs in public services.
Many small and mid‑sized businesses will face increased compliance obligations and uncertainty (including from employer‑classification rules), raising administrative costs and potentially disadvantaging firms near thresholds.
Based on analysis of 11 sections of legislative text.
Phases the federal minimum wage to $25/hour (faster for large employers), indexes it to two‑thirds of the national median, and phases out tipped, youth, and disability subminimum wages while covering incarcerated workers under FLSA.
Official title: To place the Federal minimum wage on a durable path toward a living wage aligned with the national median wage, to require large, highly profitable corporations to lead the transition, to end all subminimum wages, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Delia Ramirez · Last progress April 28, 2026
Expands federal minimum-wage law by creating a two-track phase‑in to raise the statutory minimum up to $25/hour for large employers by 2031 and for other employers by 2038, then index it to two‑thirds of the national median hourly wage. It also changes several FLSA subminimum rules: phases up and ultimately eliminates separate subminimums for tipped workers, youth under 20, and workers employed under special disability certificates; requires pre-publication notices of scheduled increases; and explicitly brings many incarcerated workers under FLSA coverage while limiting permissible wage deductions for them. The bill defines “large employer,” stages annual increases on different timetables, mandates BLS-based automatic indexing once the two‑thirds median target is reached, and imposes new employer notification and Labor Department implementation duties. It phases out long-standing exceptions that allowed lower wages for certain groups and restricts new special‑certificate authority for paying subminimum wages to workers with disabilities.