Sherrod Brown speaks in BG about raising minimum wage

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown speaks with Diane Pretzer, Bowling Green, right, and others at Grounds for Thought in Bowling Green.

BOWLING GREEN -- U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) talked to a large crowd today about raising the federal minimum wage at Grounds for Thought, a Bowling Green coffee shop and book store.

Mr. Brown is pushing for package of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which he said would allow low-income people to lead better lives. The act would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, provide cost-of-living increases, and raise the minimum wage for workers who get tips.

Adults who make minimum wage will benefit from a higher standard of living, and they will inevitably pump some cash back into the economy, Mr. Brown said.

The act would bolster the federal minimum wage by 2015 with three 95-cent increases. It also would allow minimum wage to keep pace with the cost of living after 2016 and raise the minimum tipped wage -- $2.13 for more than 20 years -- to 70 percent of the overall minimum wage.

"It's representative to me of what progressives believe in government," Mr. Brown said.