[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 24 (Thursday, February 12, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S1008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 77--DESIGNATING FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015, AS ``$2.13 
                                 DAY''

  Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Warren, Mr. 
Durbin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. Boxer, and Mrs. Gillibrand) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary:

                               S. Res. 77

       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 a tipped employee'');
       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 2015, 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 higher than the poverty rate 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 more than 10 percent higher than such poverty rate in 
     States that require the same minimum wage for tipped 
     employees as other covered nonexempt employees;
       Whereas women account for 67 percent of all tipped 
     employees and approximately 70 percent of food servers and 
     bartenders;
       Whereas 25 percent of all 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 a mean 
     wage of $24,860, nearly $25,000 less than the mean wage for 
     all occupations in the United States; 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 Friday, February 13, 2015, 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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