There are five working channels for how to raise the minimum wage in the United States: amend the Fair Labor Standards Act through Congress, pass a state statute, enact a city or county ordinance, qualify a citizen ballot initiative, or negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. The federal floor has sat at $7.25 per hour since 2009, so most of the recent movement has come from states, localities, and voters rather than Washington. Which route fits depends on where you are, what your state allows, and how much political friction you can absorb.
Amend the Fair Labor Standards Act Through Congress
The national wage floor lives in the Fair Labor Standards Act at 29 U.S.C. ยง 206.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 206 – Minimum Wage The current $7.25 rate applies to most workers engaged in interstate commerce or employed by businesses with annual revenue above $500,000.2U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wage Raising it requires new legislation.
A member of the House or Senate introduces a bill. In the House, it goes to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, which has jurisdiction over labor issues.3House Committee on Education & the Workforce. Jurisdiction The committee holds hearings, can rewrite the bill, and votes on whether to send it to the floor. A simple majority passes it in the House. The Raise the Wage Act of 2025, for example, proposes stepping the federal rate to $17 per hour by 2030.
The Senate is where these bills usually die. Passage technically needs only a simple majority, but Senate rules let any senator filibuster, so supporters need 60 votes to end debate and force the actual vote. That procedural wall has blocked federal increases for more than 15 years. If a bill does clear both chambers, the President signs it and the new rate becomes the national floor. State and local rates above the new floor stay in effect, because workers get whichever rate is most favorable to them.
Pass a State Statute, Ideally With Indexing
Every state legislature can set a rate above the federal minimum, and most now do. The process mirrors federal lawmaking in miniature: a legislator files the bill, a committee reviews it, both chambers vote, and the governor signs. The resulting rate applies within the state’s borders regardless of what Congress does.
The feature worth fighting for is indexing. More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia tie their minimum wage to an inflation measure so it adjusts automatically each year without new legislation. Most use the Consumer Price Index, which tracks the average price change for a basket of consumer goods and services.4U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index Home A typical formula measures the year-over-year change from August to August, and the state labor department calculates the new rate for January 1.
Indexing does two things at once. It removes the political lift of passing a new bill every time prices rise, and it gives employers predictability so they can plan for small annual increases instead of large jumps after years of stagnation. For long-run wage growth, writing indexing into the statute often matters more than the initial rate.
Pass a Local Ordinance (After Checking Preemption)
Cities and counties with high living costs frequently set minimums above the state rate. A city council or county board passes an ordinance amending the local code, usually after public hearings. The rate applies to businesses operating within the jurisdiction’s boundaries.
Before anyone drafts language, check preemption. A large number of states have passed laws explicitly preventing cities and counties from setting their own wage standards. Where preemption applies, the local ordinance is unenforceable and the state rate governs. Where it doesn’t, the hierarchy is simple: workers get the highest of the federal, state, and local rates. Political momentum at the city level counts for nothing if state law blocks the ordinance, so that is the first question to answer.
Qualify a Ballot Initiative
Where state law allows citizen-initiated ballot measures, voters can bypass the legislature entirely. This route has succeeded in both red and blue states in recent years.
Draft the Petition
Organizers write a petition specifying the proposed hourly rate, any phase-in schedule for incremental increases, and any exemptions. The language has to meet strict formatting and disclosure rules set by the state. Errors or missing legal disclosures can disqualify the petition before a single signature is collected. Once the language is final, organizers obtain official forms from the Secretary of State or local elections office and begin gathering signatures from registered voters.
Submit, Verify, Certify
After collecting the required number of signatures, organizers file the petition with the designated election official. The office verifies a sample of signatures against voter registration records. If enough are valid to meet the threshold, the official certifies the measure and assigns it a ballot number. Most states also require a fiscal impact statement estimating the proposal’s economic effects, which appears in the voter information guide. The public vote settles whether the proposed rate becomes law.
Use an Executive Order for Federal Contractors
Presidents can raise the wage floor for workers on federal contracts without waiting for Congress, though the reach is narrow. Executive Order 14026, signed in 2021, had raised the contractor minimum to $17.75 per hour with annual CPI adjustments. That order was revoked in March 2025 by Executive Order 14236, and the Department of Labor is no longer enforcing it.5U.S. Department of Labor. Final Rule – Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors (Executive Order 14026)
The older Executive Order 13658, signed in 2014, remains in effect for contracts still covered under its terms and is set to increase to $13.65 per hour in May 2026. Most workers on contracts subject to the Davis-Bacon Act or Service Contract Act already earn above that figure because those laws require prevailing wages. The $13.65 rate matters primarily for workers on non-prevailing-wage federal contracts, such as those providing services on federal property.
Negotiate Through Collective Bargaining
Unionized workers don’t have to wait for any government body to act. The National Labor Relations Act gives employees the right to organize and bargain collectively over wages, hours, and working conditions.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC Ch. 7 – Labor-Management Relations The union negotiates a collective bargaining agreement that typically sets pay scales well above the statutory minimum.
These contracts often include scheduled annual raises and cost-of-living adjustments pegged to inflation, creating a private version of the indexing some states build into statute. Once members ratify the agreement, the employer is legally bound to the negotiated rates for the contract’s duration. Enforcement runs through grievance procedures and, if needed, the National Labor Relations Board or federal court.
Collective bargaining doesn’t change the law for anyone outside the bargaining unit, but it creates upward pressure across an industry. When unionized workers at a major employer negotiate a $20-per-hour floor, competing employers often raise pay to retain workers even without a legal requirement.
Tipped Workers and Exempt Categories Are Separate Fights
A wage increase through any of the channels above does not automatically fix two related gaps, and campaigns often have to address them separately.
Under federal law, a tipped employee is anyone who customarily receives more than $30 per month in tips.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 203 – Definitions Employers can pay a direct cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour as long as tips bring total compensation to at least $7.25. The $5.12 gap is called the tip credit.8U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees A handful of states have eliminated the tip credit and require the full state minimum before tips. Reducing or eliminating the tip credit follows the same channels as raising the standard minimum: state legislation, local ordinances where preemption doesn’t block them, or ballot initiatives.
Several categories of workers also fall outside the standard floor. Workers under age 20 can be paid $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment, and that youth rate does not rise when Congress raises the general minimum.9U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 32 – Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act Employers holding a special certificate can pay student-learners in qualifying vocational programs as little as 75% of the standard minimum.10eCFR. Section 520.506 – What Is the Subminimum Wage for Student-Learners Executive, administrative, and professional employees paid on a salary basis are exempt from both minimum wage and overtime if they meet duties tests and earn at least the salary threshold, currently enforced at the 2019 level of $684 per week, or $35,568 per year, after courts blocked a 2024 attempt to raise it.11U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemption From Minimum Wage and Overtime Protections Under the FLSA Certain seasonal amusement and recreational workers, small-farm employees, and casual babysitters are also exempt.12U.S. Department of Labor. Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act – Section: Exemptions Closing any of these gaps takes its own legislative or ballot effort, usually written into the same bill that raises the general rate.