It has been over a year since Seattle voted to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour. In that time, 14 states – from Vermont to Montana, California to Missouri – raised their minimum wages, and it seems that the momentum has carried into Maine.

The Legislature is considering several different bills that would raise the state’s minimum wage, Portland and Bangor are weighing city minimum-wage hikes, and there’s even talk of a referendum on the issue next year.

This momentum is a clear response to the difficulty Maine workers are facing in this new economy. A recent report from the Maine Department of Labor shows that the growing sectors of employment in Maine are also the ones that pay the least, like food processing, retail and home health care work.

Over 80,000 Maine workers would be directly affected by an increase in the minimum wage. But while raising the minimum to something close to a living wage (about $15 an hour in Maine) should be the end goal of any proposed policy, it is important that we don’t leave out an important class of workers – those who live off customer tips.

Many Mainers believe that the minimum wage of $7.50 applies to everyone, but tipped workers actually get paid as little as $3.75 per hour. I wait tables here in Portland, and while I sometimes leave work with significant tips, I never know for sure how much money I will go home with. I am quickly learning the risk and volatility of living off tips.

I’m glad that spring is here, because the winter months can be the toughest time of the year for those of us who depend on tips to survive. The cold weather and parking bans keep diners inside and restaurants slow.

While many people who go to a restaurant might think that when they tip, they’re simply adding a gratuity for good service on top of the bill, the reality is that those tips are what pay my rent. Income that fluctuates with the weather makes it impossible for me to budget and plan.

When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you can only hope that a slow week for the restaurant doesn’t happen when the rent check is due. It’s no surprise, then, that nationally, tipped wage workers are among the lowest-paid workers, even when accounting for tips.

Tipped workers are also overwhelmingly women, and relying on tips for such a large portion of our income puts many of us in the tough spot of being at the mercy of our customers, even when it makes us uncomfortable.

Most of my income comes from my customers, and yet they are not subject to the same labor laws as an employer. They have no obligation to treat me well, or tip me appropriately, and so as a result I am not protected as a worker.

For me, this reality is especially true when I receive sexual harassment from customers. When I face harassment from customers, I have to ignore it if I want to make a decent paycheck that day. I know that I’m not alone.

A report released by the Restaurant Opportunities Center found that 60 percent of restaurant workers are women and that restaurant workers experience workplace sexual harassment at much higher levels than other low-wage workers. With a fair, consistent and livable wage from my employer, I would not have to subject myself to mistreatment at work or worry about falling short of rent when business is slow.

Having a single minimum wage for all workers, regardless of tips, is nothing new. Currently seven states (Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington) have equal minimum wages for tipped workers. Several other states are considering or implementing a similar change.

Despite the claims of the National Restaurant Association and others, when states have eliminated the two-tiered minimum wage, the restaurant industries there have flourished.

Foodie cities like San Francisco, Las Vegas and Portland, Oregon, have not suffered from guaranteeing their servers a fair wage. Nor have the restaurants in rural states like Alaska and Montana. The only thing that will change is that servers like me will not have to worry every day whether we will make enough to get by.

I encourage all Mainers to support a fair minimum wage that allows all workers to support a full and healthy life for them and their families, including workers who receive tips like me.