With a federal minimum wage lower than at any point since the 1940s when adjusted for inflation, two lawmakers have introduced a bill to increase the hourly minimum wage to $15, allowing it to grow with inflation.

The Higher Wages for American Workers Act was introduced Tuesday by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Peter Welch (D-VT). If signed into law, the act would increase the federal minimum wage starting in January and allow the federal minimum wage to increase with inflation in subsequent years. 

“For decades, working Americans have seen their wages flatline. One major culprit of this is the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with the economic reality facing hardworking Americans every day,” Hawley said in a news release. “This bipartisan legislation would ensure that workers across America benefit from higher wages.”

The hourly federal minimum wage sits at $7.25, a figure that has not risen since 2009.

Separately, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) introduced the Raise the Wage Act in April to gradually raise the federal hourly minimum wage to $17 by 2030. 

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 11 states and Washington, DC, have state-level hourly minimum wage requirements of $15 or greater. Last fall, Missouri voters approved a ballot measure to raise the state’s hourly minimum wage to $15 beginning in 2026, but the state legislature repealed part of the law that would allow adjustments for inflation in subsequent years.