,i #aadth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #ceda ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,september #ag1 #bjae ,mr4 ,conyers 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,kaptur1 ,ms4 ,wilson of ,florida1 ,mr4 ,ellison1 ,ms4 ,jackson ,lee1 ,mr4 ,johnson of ,georgia1 and ,mr4 ,payne7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,financial ,services ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,federal ,reserve ,act to modify the goals of the ,board of ,governors of the ,federal ,reserve ,system and the ,federal ,open ,market ,committee4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,the ,full ,employment ,federal ,reserve ,act of #bjae4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,in recent decades1 the economy has stopped working for working families in the ,united ,states4 7#b7 ,despite significant gains in workers' productivity and gross domestic product over the past #cj years1 workers have seen their wages stagnate and sometimes fall4 7#c7 ,the benefits of the powerful economy of the ,united ,states have gone almost entirely to the richest people in society1 which has created a growing gap between the wealthy and the rest of our country4 7#d7 ,such widening disparities are unhealthy for our democracy and unhealthy for the broad swath of working families who are unable to afford to pay their rent or buy a home1 save for their children's higher education1 or afford the basic necessities to live a dignified and full life4 7#e7 ,one major factor contributing to this growing economic crisis has been the lack of full employment in the economy of the ,united ,states4 7#f7 ,too many workers struggle to find jobs1 and the jobs that are available often do not pay a good wage4 7#g7 ,in the absence of a tight labor market and genuine full employment1 workers are at the mercy of their employers and cannot ask for raises or leave for better job opportunities4 7#h7 ,as a result of workers' decreased bargaining power1 corporate profits and executive compensation have accounted for an increasingly large share of gross domestic product1 leaving the large majority of workers in the ,united ,states behind4 7#i7 ,since #aihj1 the economy of the ,united ,states has had an excessively high level of unemployment #gj percent of the time1 according to the ,congressional ,budget ,office's official estimate of full employment 7that is1 the nonaccelerating inflation rate of unemployment1 or ,,nairu74 7#aj7 ,this contrasts with the #aidi-aigi era1 when the economy of the ,united ,states was functioning below full employment only #ca percent of the time4 7#aa7 ,this persistently weak labor market has had tremendous consequences not only for the unemployed and underemployed1 but also for employed workers who have been unable to negotiate for higher wages and better working conditions1 including the following examples3 7,a7 ,since #aigi1 although economy-wide productivity has grown by #fd4c percent1 women's median wages have risen by only #bj4f percent and men's median wages have actually fallen by #h4i percent1 and the statistics for ,black and ,hispanic workers are even worse than for ,white workers4 7,b7 ,workers' share of corporate income has shrunk significantly1 from #hb4c percent during the full employment economy of #bjjj to #ge4e percent today1 a decline that means that workers will earn #ece billion less this year than they would have had the share remained stable1 or approximately #c1ggj per worker this year4 7,c7 ,between #bjjb and #bjad1 inflation-adjusted hourly wages for the bottom seven deciles 7that is1 #gj percent of the workforce of the ,united ,states7 fell1 showing that wage stagnation is not limited to low-income families4 7,d7 ,even highly educated workers are not thriving in this economy2 wages for college-educated and advanced-degree workers fell in #bjac and #bjad1 a time of economic growth for the economy at large4 7#ab7 ,congress has mandated that the ,board of ,governors of the ,federal ,reserve ,system pursue a dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices1 which the ,board of ,governors has interpreted to mean full employment that is consistent with an inflation rate of #b percent4 7#ac7 ,since the ,great ,recession1 the economy of the ,united ,states has consistently had an unemployment rate higher than the ,board of ,governors of the ,federal ,reserve ,system's ,,nairu and an inflation rate below the #b-percent target2 consistently missing both targets has caused untold harm to hundreds of millions of people4 7#ad7 ,today's headline unemployment rate understates the continued weakness of the economy of the ,united ,states1 including the following examples3 7,a7 ,long-term unemployment is elevated4 7,b7 ,involuntary part-time employment remains very high1 indicating a large pool of workers who would prefer to be given more hours4 7,c7 ,the portion of prime-age adults who are in the labor force remains depressed1 because so many millions of people have given up looking for work4 7#ae7 ,although there is no empirical evidence that an inflation rate of #c or #d percent would be harmful1 or would be difficult to maintain at a stable rate1 many observers believe that the ,board of ,governors of the ,federal ,reserve ,system actually treats its #b-percent inflation target as a ceiling4 7#af7 ,over recent decades and even today1 refusal by the ,board of ,governors of the ,federal ,reserve ,system to tolerate any inflation means that it has consistently raised interest rates prematurely during recoveries1 preventing the economy from reaching full employment4 7#ag7 ,inflation remains below the already conservative #b-percent target of the ,board of ,governors of the ,federal ,reserve ,system and shows no signs of accelerating uncontrollably4 7#ah7 ,during the late #aiijs1 the economy of the ,united ,states began to reach genuine full employment1 with an unemployment rate of below #d percent1 which had tremendous benefits for the vast majority of people1 including-- 7,a7 higher wages for everyone1 including those at the bottom of the income ladder2 7,b7 robust wage gains for ,african-,americans and ,hispanics1 which shrank the tremendous racial disparities in pay and wealth2 and 7,c7 a large ,federal budget surplus 7and ,state budget surpluses71 which meant money was available for key services like education1 health care1 and infrastructure investment4 7#ai7 ,one key reason that the economy approached full employment was that the ,board of ,governors of the ,federal ,reserve ,system resisted pressures to raise interest rates and let the unemployment rate continue to fall4 7#bj7 ,achieving genuine full employment should be the foremost economic priority of the ,united ,states1 and all branches of the ,federal ,government should use their full power to accomplish this goal4 #c4 ,modification to the goals of the ,board of ,governors of the ,federal ,reserve ,system and the ,federal ,open ,market ,committee ,section #b;,a of the ,federal ,reserve ,act 7#ab ,u4,s4,c4 #bbe;a7 is amended-- 7#a7 by inserting 7defined as an economy with an unemployment rate of not more than #d percent and that generally includes a labor market in which median wages are rising with worker productivity1 job seekers can find work1 and involuntary part-time work is at a minimum7 after maximum employment2 and 7#b7 by striking stable prices and inserting a stable rate of inflation4