D.C. Council has little appetite for reviving the tipped wage fight

“This topic will never die, will it?” wrote one frustrated commenter on Reddit this week. “Every four years we’ll repeal or reinstate some policy on tipped wages and just spiral continuously until the heat death of the universe.”

They can be forgiven for the hyperbole. Over the last seven years, D.C. has spent a lot of time and energy debating the tipped minimum wage made by workers largely in the restaurant industry, but also in nail salons and parking lots. And while the matter appeared settled, Mayor Muriel Bowser has rekindled the fight. 

On Monday, the mayor proposed repealing Initiative 82 – the ballot measure approved by 74% of voters in 2022 that slowly does away with the subminimum wage – as part of the 2026 budget. 

“We have been alarmed over the last several years with the changes to the [restaurant] industry, [some] outside of our control but some within our control,” she said at an event where she unveiled what she calls her “growth agenda” to spur D.C.’s economy amidst sweeping changes to federal employment. "We think our restaurants are facing a perfect storm with increased operating and supply costs, higher rents, and unique labor challenges."

It’s the latest salvo in the argument over how to pay workers who rely on tips to earn a living. But this time, the D.C. Council seems disinclined to get involved. Six lawmakers told The 51st this week that they’re opposed to or skeptical of the plan, which could effectively sink the proposal given the current composition of the legislative body (there are only 12 current councilmembers, and seven votes are needed for anything to pass). They threw water on the idea for a variety of reasons, including the tipped wage’s already tortured history. 

“Fifty-five percent of the public voted for it and it was repealed, came back and then 75% of the public voted for it. I do think we need to respect that,” Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin told me, recounting that, before Initiative 82, there was Initiative 77 in 2018, which D.C. voters also approved. That measure also sought to phase out the tipped wage – before the council controversially repealed it.

In addition to Frumin, Ward 1’s Brianne Nadeau, Ward 4’s Janeese Lewis George, Ward 5’s Zachary Parker, and Ward 6’s Charles Allen said they were opposed to the mayor’s proposal, though some expressed openness to an alternative, notably a one-year moratorium on the stepped wage increase.  

Historically, tipped workers made a base wage of just a few dollars and were allowed to collect tips on top of that; employers were required to make up the difference if it didn’t add up to the regular minimum wage. Initiative 82 gradually does away with that system over a six-year period. If the plan continues as passed, the tipped minimum wage will hit $12 in July (the regular minimum wage will rise to $17.95), and by 2027, the two will match.

Proponents say the logic is simple: Raising the tipped wage reduces the chances of wage theft and offers workers more consistent pay. Critics contend that getting rid of the tipped wage often amounts to a pay cut – for some workers, like servers and bartenders who are tipped well – and creates an untenable financial burden for restaurants.

Bowser said she’s responding to concerns that the wage increases are putting significant strain on the industry, which has also had to deal with inflation, rent increases, and changing dining habits in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Indeed, 74 restaurants closed in D.C. in 2024, double the previous year. And many have cited the additional labor expenses brought on by Initiative 82 – including Brookland’s Finest, Sticky Rice, and Haikan just in the last month. A survey from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington has drawn further alarm; 40% of the group’s 200 members expressed concern that they might have to close this year. 

 “Let us be clear – repealing Initiative 82 is about saving jobs, saving restaurants, and stabilizing a vital sector of the District’s economy,” said Shawn Townsend of the industry group.

But several lawmakers pointed to what Bowser’s proposed repeal would amount to: an almost immediate cut in wages for many workers. Instead of freezing the tipped wage at the current $10 (or the $12 it will increase to in July), Bowser wants to bring it back down to where it was before Initiative 82 even happened: $5.95 an hour. 

“To literally say we’re going to take you backwards, I think that’s a non-starter,” said At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson. Her Ward 5 colleague, Zachary Parker, said much the same: “Given where we are economically, it's challenging to think that we would thrust so many individuals back below their earning level right now,” he told me.

Parker and others said they would have been more open to a year-long pause on increases in the tipped minimum wage, if only to give lawmakers and the mayor more time to find other ways to help business owners. At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds similarly said she’d favor a pause, in part because she says she is still torn between the divergent views she hears from the restaurant industry’s diverse workforce about Initiative 82. 

“I'm convinced that the restaurants are suffering,” she told me. “What I don't understand is where the workers are.”

Bartenders and servers have come to the council to tell lawmakers about pay cuts they have taken because of the decreasing reliance on tips as part of overall compensation. But on Tuesday a local union brought other workers to the Wilson Building who said Initiative 82 offers more financial stability, especially for back-of-the-house staff, and fewer opportunities for employers to engage in wage theft. 

A number of lawmakers also argued that Bowser’s choice to include the repeal of Initiative 82 in her proposed 2026 budget is misguided. Reviewing and approving the budget – especially this one, which is expected to feature a number of spending cuts – is a significant task in and of itself, they say, and adding another contentious policy debate to the mix doesn’t make sense. Additionally, they argue that simply repealing Initiative 82 alone wouldn’t work; there would have to be some legislative fix that regulates when restaurants impose service charges, which are often put in place to help cover increased staffing costs.

Some councilmembers are instead looking for alternatives to help restaurants. Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen introduced a bill that would prohibit credit card processing fees from being added to tips or service charges earlier this year. And Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George says tackling high commercial rents is worth discussing. Even Bowser has alternatives in mind: she’s proposing three days a year on which restaurants can waive the sales tax.

Townsend, the industry leader, said his main focus is pushing the repeal, but he isn’t taking other options off the table. “We will fully engage with councilmembers … and see where we land. I’m not going to leave anything off the table for what alternative support looks like,” he told The 51st.

For now, Bowser and Townsend have Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto on their side and At-Large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie sympathetic to the argument. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson says he never supported the ballot initiative that phases out the tipped wage, but doesn’t feel strongly enough at this point to repeal it – and doubts Bowser could cobble together a majority to do so anyhow.

But repeal or not, Pinto says that the council needs to do something to help the city’s restaurants. “I think we have to act,” she said.