In his State of the Union address, the President called for raising the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour, up from $7.25 an hour. The change would affect millions of people working in low-wage jobs, many in the service sector. Under the proposal the minimum wage would rise to $9 an hour by 2015 and then be indexed to inflation to change with cost of living increases. While many support the change, they warn that it could be a hard thing to implement. Many companies say that raising the minimum wage would increase their cost of business and make them less likely to hire. If the minimum wage is raised, it will be the first time since 2009.
See "Raising Minimum Wage Would Ease Income Gap but Carries Political Risks", Annie Lowrey, The New York Times, February 12, 2013