The White House has thrown its weight behind a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to about $10 an hour.

“The president has long supported raising the minimum wage so hardworking Americans can have a decent wage for a day’s work,” a White House official said.

President Barack Obama, the official said, supports the Harkin-Miller bill, also known as the Fair Minimum Wage Act, which would raise the federal minimum wage, currently at $7.25, to $10.10 an hour.

The legislation is sponsored in the Senate by Tom Harkin, of Iowa, and in the House by George Miller, of California, both Democrats.

Over two years, the measure would raise the minimum wage in three 95-cent increments, and then index it to inflation. The legislation will probably be coupled with some tax sweeteners for small businesses, traditionally the loudest opponents of increases to the minimum wage.