Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is urging the repeal of Initiative 82, the controversial wage law requiring tipped workers to receive the full minimum wage, as restaurant closures and layoffs continue to mount across the city. The initiative, passed by nearly 74% of voters in 2022, raised tipped workers’ base wage and mandated employer compensation if tips fall short of the full minimum wage.
Bowser pointed to escalating costs and collapsing local restaurants while unveiling her Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal. “D.C. must rebalance our system to ensure local restaurants can survive, compete, and employ D.C. residents,” she said Monday.
Effective July 1, 2024, the district raised its minimum wage to $17.50 per hour, with automatic increases tied to the Consumer Price Index. Under Initiative 82, employers must now cover any shortfall in tips, placing new financial burdens on businesses still recovering from the pandemic.
The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington praised Bowser’s proposal, warning that 70% of restaurants have already cut hours or laid off staff. In 2024 alone, D.C. recorded 74 restaurant closures.
“Repealing Initiative 82 is about saving jobs, saving restaurants, and stabilizing a vital sector of the District’s economy,” said RAMW President Shawn Townsend, calling the current crisis “a breaking point.”
Advocacy group One Fair Wage continues to defend the measure, citing the majority-minority makeup of the city’s 41,000 restaurant workers and arguing that the subminimum wage was driving labor shortages. But the Employment Policies Institute and other critics blame the initiative for a wave of closures and lost tips.
“Tipped workers actually got fewer tips, lost jobs, and closed restaurants,” said Rebekah Paxton of the Employment Policies Institute. She referenced recent D.C. Council hearings where workers themselves voiced strong opposition to the law.
Bowser’s call to reverse Initiative 82 is part of her broader push to revitalize the city post-pandemic. She has pushed for a return to in-office work, unveiled a nearly $3 billion stadium project to bring the Washington Commanders back, and recently joined President Donald Trump to announce D.C. will host the 2027 NFL Draft.
