Citing "serious issues", Leader Stewart-Cousins released a statement expressing her disappointment with the minimum wage proposal being put forth in the State budget agreement.

"While increasing the minimum wage to $9.00 is something that the Senate Democrats have long supported, we are disappointed that the current proposal doesn't reach this level for three years, is not indexed to the rate of inflation and does not raise the wages of certain service workers," the Leader commented.

In an interview on Capitol Tonight with host Liz Benjamin last week, the Leader also noted that the Democratic Conference stands ready to provide 27 votes to increase the minimum wage to $9 an hour with indexing. If you missed the interview, view the video here. (TWC ID required). The 2013 State Budget is expected to be wrapped up by the middle of this week. Voting on budget bills began Sunday and will continue late this evening and into tomorrow.