Brown calls on Senate to raise minimum wage

Brown is cosponsoring the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, a bill that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and provide the first minimum wage increase to tipped employees in more than 20 years.

{mosads}S. 460 would raise the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour by 95 cents three times and provide annual increases based on cost of living. The current minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour — this bill would raise that to 70 percent of whatever the minimum wage is.

Brown said that his bill would give more than 30 million Americans a pay raise and that it would lift families above the poverty line.

“Central Ohioans work hard, play by the rules, and should be able to take care of their families. But too many Ohioans are working harder than ever and barely getting by,” Brown said.

Brown said the Fair Minimum Wage Act would boost the minimum wage annual earning to $21,000 from $16,000.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) introduced S. 460 and the bill and it has 26 co-sponsors, all of which caucus with the Democrats. 

Democrats say raising the minimum wage pumps funds back into the community as families spend more of the money they earn. But some Republicans oppose raising the minimum wage because they say it burdens small businesses and stops new hirings.