[9] However, new evidence for workers that were bound by the minimum wage suggests a distinct negative impact on employment and income growth.

[1] The bill would increase the federal minimum wage for tipped employees to $3.00 an hour for one year beginning on the first day of the sixth month after the enactment of this Act.

[12] The Minimum Wage Fairness Act was introduced into the United States Senate on November 19, 2013 by Sen. Tom Harkin (D, IA).

"[14] Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) preferred legislation that would have a greater chance of becoming law, such as an increase to only $9 an hour.

[3] Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) expressed a willingness to negotiate with Republicans about some of the provisions of the bill, such as the timeline for the phase-in.

"[3] President Barack Obama strongly supported increasing the minimum wage, giving speeches about it urging Congress to take action.

"[2] The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report that an "estimate half a million jobs would be lost if lawmakers passed the president's proposal" to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

"[15] The trade group also argued that this was the "least opportune moment" to increase the minimum wage because employers were still dealing the fallout of changes they needed to make because of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare").

[4] Collins said "I'm confident that the votes are not there to pass a minimum wage increase up to $10.10, therefore, it seems to me to make sense for senators on both sides of the aisle to get together and see if we can come up with a package that would help low-income families without causing the kind of job loss that the Congressional Budget Office has warned against.