H.R. 1319 · 119th Congress

Modern Worker Empowerment Act

Introduced on Feb 13, 2025 by Kevin Kiley (I-CA-3). 23 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Feb 20, 2026): Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 431.

Stage
Reported by committee
Introduced
Feb 13, 2025
Cosponsors
23
0 from the other party
Policy area
Labor and Employment
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the National Labor Relations Act to clarify the standard for determining whether an individual is an employee, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Labor standards
  • Self-employed

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Feb 13, 2025). Public domain.

This bill specifies a legal standard for determining whether an individual is considered an independent contractor rather than an employee for the purposes of federal labor laws that address issues such as the federal minimum wage, overtime compensation, and collective bargaining. The rights and protections provided by these laws exclusively apply to employees.

Under the bill, an individual is considered an independent contractor if (1) another individual or entity does not exercise significant control over the details of how the individual's work is performed, without regard to any control the other individual or entity may exercise over the final result of the work performed; and (2) while performing such work, the individual has opportunities and risks inherent with entrepreneurship (for example, the discretion to exercise professional judgment).

The bill also sets forth factors that may not be used to determine whether an individual is an employee. Specifically, factors such as whether another individual or entity requires the individual to meet certain legal, health and safety, insurance, or performance requirements may not be used to make such a determination.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Kevin KileyI-CA-3Sponsor

Republicans · 23

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Feb 13, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Feb 13, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Feb 13, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
  4. Jul 23, 2025 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  5. Jul 23, 2025 · HouseOrdered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 19 - 16.
  6. Feb 20, 2026Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-505.
  7. Feb 20, 2026 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-505.
  8. Feb 20, 2026 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 431.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. ALTICOR, INC.6 reports
    $930K reported (all issues)
  2. DOORDASH, INC.6 reports
    $3.8M reported (all issues)
  3. Financial Services Institute6 reports
    $1.7M reported (all issues)
  4. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WHOLESALER-DISTRIBUTORS6 reports
    $3M reported (all issues)
  5. NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business)6 reports
    $11.7M reported (all issues)
  6. National Retail Federation6 reports
    $14.4M reported (all issues)
  7. THE NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK COMMITTEE6 reports
    $1.8M reported (all issues)
  8. AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATIONS INC.5 reports
    $3.3M reported (all issues)
  9. AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL INC.5 reports
    $1.8M reported (all issues)
  10. ASSOCIATED BUILDERS AND CONTRACTORS, INC.5 reports
    $3.5M reported (all issues)
  11. Primerica Life Insurance Company5 reports
    $2.3M reported (all issues)
  12. Society for Human Resource Management5 reports
    $1.7M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENTAI match · 100%
  13. Truckers Integral to Our Economy Inc (TIE)5 reports
    $500K reported (all issues)
  14. Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A.4 reports
    $70.7M reported (all issues)
  15. FOOD MARKETPLACE INC.4 reports
    $2.3M reported (all issues)
  16. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS4 reports
    $1.6M reported (all issues)
  17. Mechanical Contractors Association of America4 reports
    $160K reported (all issues)
  18. OWNER OPERATOR INDEPENDENT DRIVERS ASSOCIATION4 reports
    $1.4M reported (all issues)
  19. Truckers Integral to Our Economy (TIE)4 reports
    $70K reported (all issues)
  20. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF TRAVEL ADVISORS, INC.3 reports
    $122K reported (all issues)
  21. American Pipeline Contractors Association3 reports
    $240K reported (all issues)
  22. Power & Communication Contractors Association3 reports
    $150K reported (all issues)
  23. Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance3 reports
    $120K reported (all issues)
  24. Americans for Prosperity2 reports
    $645K reported (all issues)
  25. FLEX ASSOCIATION2 reports
    $180K reported (all issues)
  26. GRUBHUB HOLDINGS INC.2 reports
    $290K reported (all issues)
  27. JPMORGAN CHASE HOLDINGS LLC2 reports
    $2.3M reported (all issues)
  28. Promotional Products Association International2 reports
    $100K reported (all issues)
  29. SHEET METAL & AIR CONDITIONING CONTRACTORS NAT'L ASSN2 reports
  30. SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNCIL (SBE COUNCIL)2 reports
    $85K reported (all issues)
  31. AFL-CIO1 report
    $860K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: AFL-CIO WORKING FOR AMERICA INSTITUTE, INC. (THE)AI match · 92%
  32. Customized Logistics & Delivery Assn. (formerly Messenger Courier Association)1 report
    $30K reported (all issues)
  33. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE SELF-EMPLOYED (NASE)1 report
    $100K reported (all issues)
  34. NATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER ACTION FUND1 report
    $75K reported (all issues)
  35. Service Employees International Union CTW-CLC1 report
    $260K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.