Washington, D.C. will pause the implementation of a measure that is set to eliminate the city's tipped wage system, as the yearslong debate over the law's adverse impacts continues to divide the District's left-leaning lawmakers.
The D.C. Council on Tuesday voted 8–4 to pump the brakes on Initiative 82, the 2022 ballot referendum that mandated employers pay service workers the full minimum wage, as opposed to the traditional lower base pay that employees supplement with gratuities. (Employers were already required to make up the difference if an employee's take-home pay with tips did not equal the minimum wage.) Initiative 82 requires yearly increases to the city's tipped wage—which was previously $5.35 per hour—until it meets D.C.'s full minimum base pay—set to increase next month to $17.95 per hour—in 2027.
July was supposed to see the tipped wage rise from $10 to $12. The Council's vote will delay that increase until October as Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, advocates for overturning the law entirely.
