DC Council votes to pause tipped wage increase

The D.C. Council has voted to pause further implementation of Initiative 82 until October.

Back in 2022, nearly 74% of District voters cast their ballots to phase out the minimum wage for restaurant and hospitality workers whose wages also include tips.

Back then, it was about $5 per hour. The Initiative has increased it, in steps, $10.

The vote was eight to four to pause the next step of Initiative 82, which would raise the minimum tipped wage for service workers to $12 an hour.

At-Large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie said pausing the July first increase allows the council to assess the Initiative’s impact on workers and businesses.

Some DC bars and restaurants have cited increased costs from Initiative 82 as reasons for closing.

In a statement, the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington applauded the council vote, saying, “We also appreciate that many of the Councilmembers drew attention to the fact that DC’s economic conditions have changed drastically since Initiative 82 was on the ballot in 2022.”

The statement went on to say, “It’s our shared responsibility to consider the world as it is rather than as it was.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners and Civic Association Presidents who gathered to discuss the District’s 2026 budget that she backs full repeal.

“Fast forward a couple of years and we’re seeing a very challenging environment for our restaurants, so I proposed to the council that I-82 be repealed,” she said.

Paul Schwalb, the president of Unite Here Local 2025 Labor Union, which represents 7,000 hospitality workers in the area, called the pause of Initiative 82 a betrayal of workers and the people who voted for it.

“We believe that the council’s position is outrageous and undemocratic,” he told News4. “We believe also on the merits of it, these workers need a raise, which is why the voters of D.C. twice gave them a raise, and we find it, again, inexplicable why the council decided to stall those raises.”

Back in 2018, D.C. voters approved a similar wage measure called Initiative 77. It was overturned by the Council before it went into effect.