Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007

File:Timeline of federal minimum hourly wage for the United States (including inflation-adjusted). Congressional Research Service.gif. Top line is inflation-adjusted.{{cite web|url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R43792|title=State Minimum Wages: An Overview|date=March 2, 2023|author=Congressional Research Service}} Chart on page 3.[https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?graph_id=529071 FRED Graph]. Using U.S. Department of Labor data. [https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FEDMINNFRWG Federal Minimum Hourly Wage for Nonfarm Workers for the United States]. Inflation adjusted (by FRED) via the [https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average (CPIAUCSL)]. Run cursor over graph to see nominal and real minimum wages pop up for specific months.]]

The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007{{USPL|110|28}}, Title VIII is a US Act of Congress that amended the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. It was signed into law on May 25, 2007 as part of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007. The act raised the federal minimum wage in 3 increments: to $5.85 per hour 60 days after enactment (July 24, 2007), to $6.55 per hour a year later (July 24, 2008), and finally to $7.25 per hour two years later (July 24, 2009). In addition, the act provided for the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa to make the transition to the federal minimum wage on alternate timetables.

As of 2008, 13 states already had minimum wage rates at or above $7.25 per hour. These states were therefore unaffected by the increase.

Legislative history

The act was a component of the new Democratic majority's 100-Hour Plan in the United States House of Representatives. It was introduced into the House on January 5, 2007, by George Miller (D-CA) and it was passed by the House on January 10. All 233 House Democrats voted "Aye," and 82 Republicans joined them. 116 Republican representatives voted "No," and 4 representatives did not vote. President Bush advised that the bill should include tax cuts for small businesses that could be harmed by the wage increase, and on January 24, 2007, a cloture motion in the Senate failed as 43 Republican Senators (all but 5) rejected the bill without the tax cuts, opposing all 47 Democrats who were present for the vote. Once tax cuts were added to the bill, the Senate passed the amended bill 94-3 (3 Republicans opposed and 1 did not vote; 2 Democrats did not vote) on February 1, 2007.

The act initially did not amend the Fair Labor Standards Act in regards to American Samoa—its minimum wage would have continued to be set by a committee appointed by the U.S. Department of Labor until changes were made to the act.{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/2/text|title=Text - H.R.2 - 110th Congress (2007-2008): Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007|last=Miller|first=George|date=2007-02-01|website=www.congress.gov|access-date=2019-04-13}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/americanSamoa/ASminwage.htm|title=Wage Rates in American Samoa|last=Wage and Hour Division (WHD)|website=Department of Labor Reports|publisher=United States Department of Labor|access-date=April 13, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/205|title=29 U.S. Code § 205 - Repealed. Pub. L. 110–28, title VIII, § 8103(c)(1)(A), May 25, 2007, 121 Stat. 189|website=LII / Legal Information Institute|language=en|access-date=2019-04-13|postscript=: Special industry committees for American Samoa.}} After accusations by Republican lawmakers that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was unethical because Del Monte (parent company of StarKist Tuna which owns one of the two tuna canneries in Samoa) is based in her district, she instructed a House committee to have Samoa be included. Samoa's representative Eni Faleomavaega noted that the territory has not been subject to the mainland minimum wage and said, "...the global tuna industry is so competitive that it is no longer possible for the federal government to demand mainland minimum wage rates for American Samoa without causing the collapse of our economy...".[http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/as00_faleomavaega/minimumwage2007.html Faleomavaega Comments on Minimum Wage Bill Now Before Congress] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101062246/http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/as00_faleomavaega/minimumwage2007.html |date=January 1, 2008 }}

=Final passage=

The minimum wage was passed by the House and the Senate on May 24, 2007 as part of HR 2206, the supplemental aid to the Iraq War. As part of the deal, $257 million worth of tax breaks were given to small business over a 10-year period to offset the wage increase.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc.cfm?doc_name=lb-110-1-11|title=H.R. 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007|website=www.dpc.senate.gov|access-date=2019-04-13}} The bill was thus ultimately enacted as a rider to the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007. President George W. Bush signed the bill on the next day.{{Cite web |url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007May24/0,4670,MinimumWage,00.html |title=Fox News.com |website=Fox News |access-date=May 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210060036/http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007May24/0,4670,MinimumWage,00.html |archive-date=December 10, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}

=Proposed amendments=

The bill {{USBill|113|s|256}}, To amend Public Law 93–435 with respect to the Northern Mariana Islands, providing parity with Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa (S. 256; 113th Congress), is a bill that was introduced into the 113th United States Congress. S. 256 would amend the Fair Minimum Wage Act to provide for no Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands minimum wage increases in 2013 and 2015.{{cite web|title=S. 256 - Summary|url=http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th/senate-bill/256|publisher=United States Congress|access-date=13 September 2013}}

Omissions

The minimum wage increase did not change the tip credit for tipped employees. Originally, it was automatically increased by being pegged to a percentage of the regular minimum wage. However, that changed during the 1990s. The federal tip credit, therefore, remains at $2.13. However, as even tipped employees are subject to the higher of State or Federal wage by law tipped staff effectively benefit from the minimum wage increase just the same.{{Cite news|url=https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.pdf|title=Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)|date=April 2018|work=Wage and Hour Division|access-date=April 13, 2019|publisher=U.S. Department of Labor}}

References

{{USBill|110|HR|2}}: Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (not the version passed into law)
[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll018.xml House Vote Roll Call] Accessed January 13, 2007
[https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00023 Senate Vote Roll Call - Cloture Motion] Accessed January 24, 2007
[https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00042 Senate Vote Roll Call] Accessed February 1, 2007
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070110184559/http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/americanSamoa/ASminwage.htm Wage Rates in American Samoa] Accessed January 14, 2007

Notes

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20070111011631/http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/200501244.html Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 page] on WashingtonWatch.com

Category:Acts of the 110th United States Congress

Category:Minimum wage law in the United States

Category:United States federal labor legislation

Category:United States federal legislation articles without infoboxes

Category:2007 in labor relations

Category:Riders to United States federal appropriations legislation