The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2004 (H.R. 4256), if passed by Congress, would boost the U.S. minimum wage from $5.15 to $7 over three years and would be the first raise in the minimum wage in seven years.
Under the proposed bill, the minimum hourly wage would increase by $0.70 two months after the legislation is signed into law. One year later, it would increase again by $0.60, and in the third year the minimum wage would increase by $0.55, bringing the minimum wage to $7 an hour.
Currently, working a 40 hour work week, 52 weeks a year at the present minimum wage level earns a worker $10,700, which is $5,000 below the poverty line for a family of three.
While Congress has considered increasing the minimum wage several times over the years, it has not taken action since 1996.
The federal minimum wage has increased from 25-cents an hour in 1938, to the current $5.15, adopted in 1997.
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