It continues to be an issue of discussion and, in some cases at the state level, has been introduced as a part of the general minimum wage structure. As amended through the years, the FLSA has become the primary federal statute dealing with wage rates for low-wage workers. In order to eliminate fluctuations in its real value, some have suggested that the federal minimum should be pegged to an outside economic variable: for example, to a component of the cost-of-living index or to some other relatively neutral series. The purpose of the boards was to increase the general standard and, then, to maintain the value of the minimum wage at a constant level or, at least, at a level in keeping with the cost-of-living. You have these variations in your industries. Ultimately, the bill was adopted (P.L. Others were equally firm. In the interim, he stated:
About all we can do is to make some tentative observations based upon a reading of our past experience, and to put in a reminder that for 40 years, the Fair Labor Standards Act has been of considerable benefit to many of the lowest paid in our society without having had any apparently harmful effects on the economy....
Galenson was "not a partisan of the general concept of wage indexing. However," he stated, "... One portion read:
(C) the economic consequences (if any) of authorizing an automatic increase in the rate prescribed in that Act [the FLSA] on the basis of an increase in an index of the earnings of a category of employees; ...
Perkins had been a Member since 1949 "when we increased the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents. Few serious initiatives dealing with the minimum wage were considered during the Reagan years. Minimum wage was not then before the Congress. Two bills ( H.R. The authors stated two purposes for the Board. As reported from Conference, the Board would have been a congressional entity. There follow a series of speeches, in some measure redundant. Despite this accommodation to the President, the Review Board likely remained in the act. But, then, no new minimum wage legislation has been enacted as stand-alone legislation since 1989. The duties of the "Commission" would have been to study and make recommendations to Congress on:
A) means to restore the minimum wage to the level relative to the average hourly wage that existed when the Congress adjusted the minimum wage during the period 1950 through 1980; and,
(B) means to maintain such level with minimum disruption to the general economy through periodic adjustments to the minimum wage rate. The 110th Congress

In the 110 th Congress, Representative Al Green introduced a new version of his bill of the 109 th Congress: now, H.R. 4637 . Inflation may be yet another matter. Through the years, at least since the 1940s, indexation has been frequently discussed but, perhaps, not actually explored in its varied aspects.
Indexation of the minimum wage (linking the minimum wage to an outside economic variable) in a variety of forms has been a subject of discussion at least since the early years of the 20th century. When early proponents of a wage floor began to consider the matter as public policy within the United States, they established a series of state wage boards. These boards were given the authority to fix a reasonable rate below which most workers were not permitted to be paid. The powers of the boards varied from one state to the next and, where they were reasonably effective, there was the constant fear that the courts would intervene and overturn whatever authority the boards may have had.
The boards wrestled with a variety of methods for setting the minimum wage. Some made surveys of the cost-of-living for low-wage employees and tried to render a measure of equality between such costs (however defined) and income derived from work. But surveys proved difficult and, gradually, a reliance developed upon governmental agencies. It was not necessarily a neat fit, and questions remained.
In 1938, largely moving beyond the state boards, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (the FLSA). The act established the federal minimum at 25 cents an hour for those relatively few workers actually covered. Since 1938, Congress has revisited the act in a sporadic fashion. The result, through the years, has been a series of gradual expansions of the act and some variation in wage rates—but, generally, since the 1960s, a downward spiral in the real value of the minimum wage has set in. During the Reagan era, no new increases were made, and only two (the 1989 and 1996 amendments) have been made in subsequent years.
At present, at least five states (Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) index their state minimum wage standards. In several other states, the issue has recently been considered. In the 110th Congress, two bills dealing with indexation have been introduced: H.R. 4637 (Al Green) and S. 2514 (Clinton). The issue was not dealt with in the general minimum wage legislation (H.R. 2206, P.L. 110-28), enacted in early 2007.
Following a preliminary introduction of the topic, this report reviews the several relatively distinct periods during which indexation, in one form or another, was before the Congress. This report will be updated if conditions warrant.