Bills
| 3.23.22

Is it Time to (Gradually) Raise the Minimum Wage to $12? (S. 1150)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is S. 1150?

(Updated August 26, 2021)

By 2020, this bill aims raise the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour — gradually. Starting either on January 1, 2016, or three months after the bill is passed (whichever is later), the federal minimum wage would go up to $8 an hour. Each year, it would go up a dollar an hour, until it reached $12. 

The federal minimum wage since July 2009 has been $7.25 an hour — though some states have higher minimum wages and worker protections that employers in those states have to comply with. 

After the federal minimum wage reaches $12 an hour under this bill, the Secretary of Labor would have to set the minimum wage, as calculated by data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The new minimum wage would be indexed to the median wage, and couldn't be set less than the previous minimum wages.

Perhaps even more notably, this bill would phase out tipped minimum wages. Set at $2.13 an hour at the federal level, tipped minimum wages assume that if you earn tips on the job, you'll make up the regular minimum wage difference. This bill would raise the tipped minimum to $3.15 at the same time as the regular wage goes up. That wage would then be raised by either $1.05 or however much it had to go up by the equal regular minimum wage, whichever was lesser.

Argument in favor

It's impossible to live on the current minimum wage ($7.25 an hour) — it's an insult to those who work the jobs that lay the foundation of the country. If we want society to be functional, we have to make sure that all people make enough to survive.

Argument opposed

Minimum wage jobs pay the minimum because they require little to no formal training. It’s important that people who get more training get paid more — it incentivizes working effort and innovation in the American economy.

Impact

People working minimum wage and tipped minimum wage jobs, their families, employers that pay the minimum wage, the Secretary of Labor, people that buy things sold or made by people that earn minimum wage.

Cost of S. 1150

A CBO estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

Of Note: While it’s hard to argue that a pay increase won’t help the people that receive it (12 is more than eight, bro), this bill is actually much more of a compromise than many labor activists have rallied for. Labor activists have recently focused on getting the minimum wage up to $15. They’ve had some success: Los Angeles has raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour, following Seattle’s lead. The New York State Assembly isn't far behind, having approved a bill that would raise minimum wage to $15 an hour in New York City and its suburbs in Westchester and Long Island. However, New York’s bill isn't projected to pass the State Senate — but $15 might not even be enough in those expensive cities.


In Depth:  This bill has 32 co-sponsors. All of them are Democrats. Surprise! It amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which established the minimum wage. It’s accompanied in the House by H.R. 2150.


Media:

Summary by James Helmsworth

(Photo Credit: Flickr user Annette Bernhardt)