[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 356 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 356

            Designating February 13, 2014, as ``$2.13 Day''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 12, 2014

   Mr. Brown (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Markey, Ms. Warren, Mrs. 
 Murray, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Casey, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. 
   Sanders, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Levin, Mr. 
   Durbin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Heinrich, and Mr. Franken) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
            Designating February 13, 2014, as ``$2.13 Day''.

Whereas $2.13 per hour is the Federal minimum wage that an employer is required 
        to pay a tipped employee (as defined in section 3(t) of the Fair Labor 
        Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(t))) as a cash wage under section 
        3(m) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 203(m)) (referred to in this preamble as the 
        ``Federal minimum wage for tipped employees'');
Whereas when the Federal minimum wage for a tipped employee was established in 
        1966, such wage was linked to the Federal minimum wage for a covered 
        nonexempt employee under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
        of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1));
Whereas while the Federal minimum wage for a covered nonexempt employee 
        increased in 2009, the Federal minimum wage for a tipped employee has 
        not changed in more than 20 years;
Whereas in the 1980s, the Federal minimum wage for a tipped employee reached 60 
        percent of the Federal minimum wage for a covered nonexempt employee, 
        and in 2014, the Federal minimum wage for a tipped employee is only 29 
        percent of the $7.25 per hour Federal minimum wage for a covered 
        nonexempt employee;
Whereas tipped employees work in many occupations, including working as 
        restaurant servers, airport attendants, hotel workers, valets, and salon 
        workers;
Whereas $2.13 per hour is such a low wage that tipped employees are dependent on 
        the discretional contributions of consumers for the majority of their 
        income;
Whereas 7 States have 1 minimum wage for both tipped employees and covered 
        nonexempt employees, and the restaurant industry has continued to thrive 
        in such States;
Whereas in States with a minimum wage for a tipped employee that is higher than 
        $2.13 per hour, the poverty rate for tipped employees is lower than the 
        poverty rate for tipped employees in States without such a higher 
        minimum wage for tipped employees;
Whereas restaurant servers have a poverty rate that is 3 times that of the 
        general workforce and are nearly 2 times more likely to depend on the 
        supplemental nutrition assistance program established under the Food and 
        Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) than the general 
        workforce;
Whereas States with a minimum wage for a tipped employee of $2.13 per hour have 
        a poverty rate for employees of color that is nearly double that of 
        States with the highest minimum wage for a tipped employee;
Whereas women account for 66 percent of all tipped employees and 71 percent of 
        restaurant servers;
Whereas \1/3\ of tipped employees are parents who work hard to support their 
        families;
Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that from 2008 to 2018, the 
        food preparation and serving sector, as defined by the Bureau, would add 
        more than 1,000,000 jobs;
Whereas such food preparation and serving sector has the lowest median wages of 
        the top 20 growth sectors; and
Whereas raising the Federal minimum wage for a tipped employee would provide 
        hardworking people in the United States with more just wages, lift 
        families in the United States out of poverty, and provide economic 
        security to tipped employees in the United States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the Senate designates Thursday, February 13, 2014, as 
        ``$2.13 Day''; and
            (2) it is the sense of the Senate that the cash wage that 
        an employer is required to pay a tipped employee (as defined in 
        section 3(t) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
        203(t))) under section 3(m) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 203(m)) 
        should be increased to 70 percent of the Federal minimum wage 
        for a covered nonexempt employee under section 6(a)(1) of the 
        Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)).
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