# 119-s-4981: Living Wage For All Act

119-s-4981, Living Wage For All Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (D-CT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4981
- As of: 2026-08-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4981
- Congress: 119
- Title: Living Wage For All Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-14
- Sponsor: Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (D-CT)
- Cosponsors: 4
- Policy area: Labor and Employment
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-12

## Summary

**A federal minimum wage ramp to $25 per hour and the phased end of subminimum wage categories.** This bill would create multi‑year federal minimum wage schedules for large and non‑large employers and then index future increases to two‑thirds of the national median hourly wage.

## Cosponsors (4)

- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2026-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2026-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-08-07T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Higher minimum wages by employer size: benefit, high. If enacted, this would create new federal minimum wage schedules that differ by employer size. An employer with $1 billion or more in annual revenue or 500 or more employees would be a "Large employer." The law would start the first day of the calendar year after enactment and set a staged rise to…
- New rules for tipped workers: benefit, high. If enacted, this would set multi-year minimum cash wages for tipped employees that differ by employer size. For large employers the cash wage would rise from $6.00 to $9.00, $12.00, $15.00, and $18.00 in successive years and reach parity with the full minimum in year five. For smaller employers the…
- Youth minimum wage for under-20s: benefit, medium. If enacted, newly hired employees under age 20 would be paid a separate youth rate. In the first year the rate would be $6.00 per hour. Each later year the youth rate would rise by up to $1.75 or reach the applicable large or non-large minimum, whichever is lower. This applies only to newly hired w…
- Advance notice and tip protections: benefit, low. If enacted, the Department of Labor would have to publish any required wage increase notice at least 60 days before the change in the Federal Register and on the DOL website. The law would also state that employees have the right to retain tips and require employers to inform workers of that right…
- Stronger wage enforcement penalties: benefit, low. If enacted, this would amend FLSA penalty wording by inserting the words "or used" after "kept" in certain penalty sentences. The change would broaden when penalties can apply for withheld or misused wages. The amendment would take effect the first day of the calendar year after enactment.
- Phase out special disability wages: mixed, medium. If enacted, the Secretary of Labor would stop issuing new section 14(c) special certificates on the date of enactment. Existing 14(c) workers would get at least $5.00 per hour in the first year after the law takes effect and then move up each year under the Act's escalation rules or the median-base…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-4981 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4981)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3869)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4981 (as of 2026-08-12).