Texas House Bill Proposes Minimum Wage Hike
Rep. Armando Walle filed HB 132 on Monday to decouple Texas pay from the stagnant federal rate, aiming to address rising living costs for workers.
By Fatou Kim ·
State Rep. Armando Walle, a Democrat from Houston, filed HB 132 on Monday to raise the minimum wage in Texas. The bill was introduced during the first day of early filing, joining a wave of legislation focused on household economic concerns.
The proposal seeks to change how Texas determines the minimum wage. Under current law, specifically Texas Labor Code Section 62.051, the state does not set an independent rate. Since the Texas Minimum Wage Act passed in 1993, the state has automatically adopted the federal standard. That federal rate has remained fixed at $7.25 per hour since 2009, when the final phase of a three-step increase approved by Congress in 2007 took effect.
Shea Jordan Smith, a political strategist, supported the bill in a Facebook post. She argued that the state cannot boast about its economy while relying on workers earning $7.25 an hour. Smith stated that the bill deserves a hearing, a vote, and the governor's signature. She noted that rent, groceries, and utility bills have increased, leaving workers with stagnant pay.
Data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator shows that a single adult in Texas needs to earn approximately $21.77 per hour to meet basic expenses without assistance. This equates to roughly $45,290 annually before taxes. The calculator designates any wage below $7.67 per hour for a single adult as a poverty wage.
The U.S. Department of Labor reports that more than 30 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have minimum wages higher than the federal threshold. These include states with varying political control, such as California, New York, Florida, and Alaska. Some states, including Vermont and Washington, use formulas to adjust wages annually based on inflation and cost of living.
Local governments in Texas cannot set their own higher minimum wages for private-sector workers. State law explicitly supersedes local wage ordinances. Nationwide, 69 cities and counties have established minimum wages above the federal rate, but no municipality in Texas has done so.
