Congress moves to raise minimum wage to $25, index it to median earnings
H.R. 8555 — Living Wage For All Act · Filed by Delia Ramirez (D-IL) · 33 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 28, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill raises the federal minimum wage to $25 per hour by 2031 for large corporations (those with $1B+ revenue or 500+ employees) and by 2038 for smaller employers, then automatically adjusts it annually to equal two-thirds of the national median wage. It also eliminates the separate lower minimum wage for tipped workers and workers with disabilities, phases out subminimum wages for incarcerated workers, and requires employers to inform workers they can keep all tips.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is straightforward: it raises the federal minimum wage in scheduled steps, differentiates timelines by employer size, and ties future adjustments to the national median wage. The title accurately describes what the bill does.
What the text implies
- Elimination of the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities (Section 9) may reduce hiring of disabled workers if employers perceive compliance costs as prohibitive; the bill provides transition assistance but does not mandate hiring protections.
- Incarcerated workers gain minimum-wage protections for the first time (Section 10), but the bill does not address whether prison labor programs will continue or be restructured; potential cost increases to state/federal corrections budgets are not quantified.
- Automatic indexing to median wages (Section 5) means the minimum wage will rise even if inflation is low, potentially accelerating wage growth relative to productivity in some sectors; long-term labor-market effects are uncertain.
- The $1B revenue threshold for 'large employer' status may incentivize corporate restructuring or subsidiary separation to avoid the faster phase-in schedule, though enforcement mechanisms are not detailed.
- Tipped workers gain the right to keep all tips and transition to full minimum wage by 2031 (Section 6), but the bill does not address whether restaurants will adjust pricing or reduce tip-pooling practices that may have offset lower base wages.
Who it affects
Low-wage workers gain substantially higher earnings and purchasing power; the phase-in schedule gives smaller employers time to adjust; elimination of subminimum wages for tipped and disabled workers removes exploitative carve-outs. The automatic indexing to median wages protects future workers from wage erosion. Broader economic stimulus from increased consumer spending may offset modest employment effects.
Who stands to gain
- low-wage workers (direct wage increase)
- retail and food-service workers (largest minimum-wage workforce)
- workers with disabilities (elimination of subminimum wage)
- incarcerated workers (new minimum-wage protections)
- consumer-facing businesses (increased consumer spending from higher wages)
Named in the bill
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Congressional Budget Office, Department of Labor, Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, UNICOR program, retail sector, food-service sector, corrections industry
Where it stands
33 cosponsors: 33 Democrats.
- Apr 28, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 28, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
4 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,860,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 48 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 72% of bills with at least one filing.
Delia Ramirez, the sponsor, reported $383,900 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Education Association — $670,000 on 1 filing
- Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc. — $480,000 on 1 filing
- American Federation of Teachers — $410,000 on 1 filing
- Service Employees International Union Ctw-clc — $300,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 8, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 22, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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