Sponsors
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Al Green · Last progress January 3, 2025
The bill would substantially raise and regularly index the federal minimum wage—boosting incomes and housing affordability for many low‑paid workers—while imposing higher labor and government payroll costs that could reduce hiring, raise prices, and create uneven impacts across regions.
Low‑wage workers (including many renters and parents) would see substantially higher, inflation‑linked minimum wages—rising toward $26.59 by 2030—lifting many workers above poverty thresholds and increasing steady earnings.
Automatic, formulaic increases (indexing to inflation / scheduled updates) would make future minimum‑wage changes more predictable and reduce political uncertainty about pay increases.
Wages tied to poverty and housing benchmarks (e.g., 140% of a supplemental poverty measure and aims for two full‑time workers to exceed the national housing wage) would help renter households and families better afford housing and basic needs.
Small businesses and employers face substantially higher labor costs, which could lead them to reduce hiring, cut hours, or lay off workers.
Prices for goods and services could rise as businesses pass labor cost increases to consumers, raising the cost of living for people who do not receive higher wages.
Automatic increases tied to a federal standard could raise government payroll costs at the federal, state, and local levels, pressuring budgets and potentially reducing services or staff.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Raises the federal minimum wage in steps to $26.59 by Jan 1, 2030 and requires 7-year automatic adjustments tied to 140% of the BLS supplemental poverty threshold for a renter family of four.
Raises the federal hourly minimum wage in scheduled steps to $26.59 by January 1, 2030 and creates an automatic mechanism for future adjustments tied to the federal supplemental poverty threshold for renting families. It also expresses Congress’s non-binding view that the minimum wage should be adjusted after certain inflation increases and should allow two full-time minimum-wage workers to cover typical housing costs. The law sets specific annual wage floors for 2026–2030, then requires the Secretary of Labor to recalculate the wage every seven years so that 1,799 hours of work equals 140% of the prior year’s BLS federal supplemental poverty threshold for a renter family of four, with publication deadlines and a rule that the wage cannot be reduced if the formula yields a lower figure.