III 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 77 

Designating Friday, February 13, 2015, as ‘‘$2.13 Day’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

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 

RESOLUTION 

Designating Friday, February 13, 2015, 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 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)); 


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•SRES 77 IS 

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; 


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•SRES 77 IS 

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 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) the Senate designates Friday, February 13, 

3 2015, as ‘‘$2.13 Day’’; and 

4 (2) it is the sense of the Senate that the cash 

5 wage that an employer is required to pay a tipped 

6 employee (as defined in section 3(t) of the Fair 


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•SRES 77 IS 

1 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(t))) 

2 under section 3(m) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 203(m)) 

3 should be increased to 70 percent of the Federal 

4 minimum wage for a covered nonexempt employee 

5 under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards 

6 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)). 

Æ 


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