The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to postpone raising the tipped minimum wage for restaurant workers from $10 to $12 per hour, a change officials initially slated to take effect in July.
The Council voted 8-4 to pause the pay bump until October following a push from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to repeal Initiative 82, a 2023 law requiring the District gradually increase the tipped minimum wage and eliminate the system allowing tips to count toward base wages. The vote sets the stage for a larger discussion over D.C. officially repealing the ballot innovative following reports of lagging business and rising operational costs from local eateries.
When Initiative 82 passed with close to 75 percent of the vote in 2022, the tipped minimum wage was $5.35. By July 2023, Initiative 82 boosted wages from $6 per hour to $8 per hour. The tipped base pay is slated to reach the standard D.C. minimum wage — $17.50 per hour — in 2027.
The gradual increase of tipped base wages will now come to a halt, and the next few months will determine whether the voter-backed initiative survives. Councilmembers in a meeting Tuesday argued that waiting until October to bump tipped workers’ wages to $12 will allow them time to fully consider the mayor’s proposal of repealing the initiative entirely.
Bowser’s plan, which she announced as part of her budget proposal last month, would eliminate Initiative 82 and revert the tipped minimum wage to $5.95. Employers would still have to ensure employees earn standard minimum wage with tips.
“I hear my colleagues say this is not a repeal of Initiative 82, but I think words only count for so much,” Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis-George, who voted against the pause, said at the meeting. “It’s our actions that matter. And the fact is that this is chipping away at Initiative 82. It’s laying the groundwork to overturn the will of the overwhelmingly majority of voters who have spoken twice in support of a fair wage for the district’s tipped workers.”
Council members like Ward 2’s Brooke Pinto, At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds and Ward 6’s Charles Allen supported the pause.
“I can’t ignore the impact of inflation, tariffs, a Trump recession, 40,000 jobs lost, and the reality that people are dining out less and spending less,” Allen said at the meeting.
The debate over D.C.’s tipped minimum wage has spanned nearly a decade, including two ballot initiatives, a flurry of lawsuits and many D.C. Council votes. Previously, Initiative 77, a ballot measure passed in 2018 with support of about 55 percent of the vote, aimed to introduce a tiered system to boost the base wages of tipped workers. The D.C. Council voted that October to strike the initiative down.
Foggy Bottom and West End restaurant owners in January 2024 said they have had to implement service fees and cut staff to account for Initiative 82 and new operating costs, while unions and some progressive groups have countered that tipped workers deserve the higher base wage to secure more reliable paychecks.
