# Plain Language Summary: Original LAW Act

This bill would significantly raise the federal minimum wage over the next several years and then tie future increases to the cost of living. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which hasn't changed since 2009. Under this bill, the minimum wage would jump to $10.59 per hour starting in 2026, then increase by $4 every year until it reaches $26.59 per hour in 2030. After that, starting in 2031, the minimum wage would be recalculated every seven years based on a specific formula designed to ensure workers can afford basic living expenses.

The bill's core idea is straightforward: it calculates what a family of four with two children needs to earn to live above the poverty line while paying reasonable rent. The bill uses government poverty data to determine this amount and sets the minimum wage so that someone working full-time (about 1,800 hours per year) would earn 40 percent more than that poverty threshold. The bill's supporters point out that current minimum wage workers often can't afford rent—the bill notes that average apartment rent takes up more than 110 percent of a minimum wage worker's monthly income, when affordability guidelines suggest housing should cost no more than 30 percent of income.

One important protection in the bill is that the minimum wage can never go down. If economic conditions change and the formula would result in a lower wage than what's currently in effect, the wage stays where it is. Additionally, the bill makes clear that states, cities, and other local governments can still set their own minimum wages higher than the federal level if they choose to. This means the federal minimum would act as a floor, not a ceiling.

Original LAW Act

Green, Al

Original Living American Wage Act or the Original LAW ActThis bill increases the federal minimum wage according to a formula specified in the bill.First, the bill increases the minimum hourly wage to $10.59&nbsp;beginning on January 1, 2026, and increases the minimum hourly wage by $4 annually from January 1, 2027,&nbsp;through January 1, 2030.Next, beginning on January 1, 2031, the Department of Labor shall increase the minimum hourly wage every seven years&nbsp;according to a specified formula. The formula establishes the minimum hourly wage as the wage sufficient for a person working 1,799 hours per year (approximately 35 hours per week) to earn an annual income that is 40%&nbsp;higher than the federal supplemental poverty threshold for a renter family of four, with two children under the age of 18, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the preceding year. However, if this formula results in a reduction, the minimum&nbsp;hourly wage may not be lowered.&nbsp;