Federal contractors must pay $25/hour—with teeth for wage theft
H.R. 9571 — Living Wage for Federal Contractors Act · Filed by Alma Adams (D-NC) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 2, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires all federal contractors to pay workers a minimum wage starting at $17/hour, rising to $25/hour over five years, then adjusting annually for inflation. It applies to employees on federal contracts for goods, services, and work on federal lands, and ties the Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Act, and procurement wage standards to whichever is higher—the new federal contractor minimum or existing prevailing-wage rules. Contractors who fail to pay face contract termination, wage-recovery liability (double damages), debarment for three years, and civil penalties.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a mandatory wage floor for federal contractors, enforced through contract termination, wage recovery, and debarment. It is a labor-protection measure, not a subsidy or deregulation.
What the text implies
- The bill ties Davis-Bacon, Service Contract Act, and procurement wage standards to the new federal contractor minimum, potentially raising prevailing-wage floors across multiple statutes simultaneously—a significant expansion of wage protection beyond the stated title.
- Tipped employees are covered at lower rates ($13–$25/hour vs. $17–$25/hour for non-tipped), but still receive substantial increases and inflation adjustments—a departure from the federal tipped minimum of $2.13/hour.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
federal contract workers (direct wage increase); labor unions (potential organizing advantage and wage-floor enforcement); small contractors with existing above-minimum-wage practices (competitive advantage over wage-cuttin