79R8585 PB-D

By:  Thompson                                                     H.B. No. 3433



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the minimum wage.                                                 
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 62.051, Labor Code, is amended to read as 
follows:       
	Sec. 62.051.  MINIMUM WAGE.  (a) Except as otherwise
provided by this section [Section 62.057], an employer shall pay to 
each employee not less than:
		(1)  $6 an hour on or after January 1, 2006; and                       
		(2)  $7 an hour on or after January 1, 2007.                           
	(b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), and except as provided 
by Subsection (c), an employer shall pay to each employee not less 
than the greater of:
		(1)  the minimum wage established under Subsection (a); 
or           
		(2)  the federal minimum wage under Section 6, Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Section 206).
	(c)  Beginning with the calendar year beginning on January 1, 
2008, and each calendar year thereafter, an employer shall pay to an 
employee not less than the minimum wage established under 
Subsection (d).
	(d)  On October 1, 2007,  and each following October 1,  the 
commission shall adjust the minimum wage established under 
Subsection (b) for inflation.  The adjusted minimum wage rate shall 
be computed to the nearest cent using the consumer price index for 
urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W), as computed by the 
United States Department of Labor for the preceding 12 months, or an 
analogous index adopted by the commission by rule.  The commission 
by rule shall:
		(1)  describe the process used in computing inflation 
rates and the procedure for determining the level of inflation used 
in the commission's computations; and
		(2)  based on the computations under Subdivision (1), 
set the state minimum wage for the subsequent calendar year.
	(e)  This section does not apply to compensation paid to a 
person under Section 62.057.
	SECTION 2.  Section 62.151, Labor Code, is repealed.                           
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.