Initiative 77

Last updated

Initiative 77
Minimum Wage Increase for Tipped Workers
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes47,23055.74%
Light brown x.svgNo37,50444.26%
Valid votes84,734100.00%
Invalid or blank votes00.00%
Total votes84,734100.00%
DC Initiative 77 2018.svg
Precinct results

Initiative 77 was a voter-approved ballot initiative in Washington, D.C., to phase out the special minimum wage for tipped employees as part of the national Fight for $15 campaign. In the June 2018 primary election, D.C. voters approved Initiative 77 by a margin of 56% to 44%; however, the D.C. Council repealed the initiative in October before it could enter into force. In 2022, a nearly identical Initiative 82 was approved for the November 8, 2022 election.

Contents

Background

In 2014, Restaurant Opportunities Center United, a nonprofit organization that advocates for restaurant workers in the United States, said it would ask voters in Washington, D.C., to approve a local ballot measure  – Initiative 74 – that would gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2019. It would also increase the tipped minimum wage until it equals the standard wage, which would take place in 2024. [1] The campaign failed to collect the number of signatures required to put the initiative on the ballot. [2]

The next year, the campaign was revived as Initiative 76. [2] More than 70% of D.C. residents supported it, according to a poll conducted by DC Vote and the Washington City Paper . [3] Harry Wingo, then the president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, sued the District of Columbia Board of Elections in an effort to prevent the initiative from appearing on the 2016 ballot. [4] He eventually failed. [2]

Muriel Bowser, the mayor of the District of Columbia, was initially skeptical of Initiative 76. However, in a surprise announcement at a citywide address, she announced her full support of the Fight for $15, saying, "Low wages create an invisible ceiling that prevents working families from truly getting a fair shot." [5] Motivated by the impending ballot measure and pressure from labor unions and the restaurant industry, she proposed a compromise piece of legislation that would increase the standard minimum wage from $10.50 per hour to $15 per hour, but allow the tipped minimum wage to remain, albeit substantially increased from $2.77 per hour. The bill was passed unanimously by the D.C. Council in 2016. [6]

Minimum hourly wage changes per the Fair Shot Minimum Wage Emergency Amendment Act of 2016
Effective dateStandardTipped
July 1, 2016$11.50$2.77
July 1, 2017$12.50$3.33
July 1, 2018$13.25$3.89
July 1, 2019$14.00$4.45
July 1, 2020$15.00$5.00
July 1, 2021$15.20$5.05
July 1, 2022$16.10$5.35
Source: DC Wage Law [7]

The Fair Shot Minimum Wage Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 gradually increased both the standard and tipped minimum wages each July until July 2020, when they would equal $15 and $5, respectively. Each year following, the minimum wages would increase in proportion to any increases in the local consumer price index. [8]

Restaurant Opportunities Center United was dissatisfied with the compromise, saying "We oppose any deal or compromise that excludes tipped workers from a full $15 minimum wage." [6]

Political arguments

For

Against

Support and opposition

The Restaurant Opportunities Center United, a New York-based nonprofit group, led the effort to remove the exemption. [14] The National Restaurant Association and others supported the grassroots organization "Save Our Tips" to keep the existing system in place.

The Washington Post , Mayor Muriel Bowser, many restaurant owners, and the vast majority of DC Councilmembers opposed the initiative. An overwhelming majority of tipped workers opposed the ballot measure and organized themselves to advocate against it. [15] [16] [17]

Vote

On June 19, 2018, in the primary election, D.C. voters approved the measure with 55.74% of valid votes, a margin of more than 10%. [18]

Initiative 77
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes47,23055.74
No37,50444.26
Valid votes84,73494.68
Over and undervotes 4,7605.32
Total votes89,494100.00
Registered voters/turnout479,72318.66
Source: District of Columbia Board of Elections [18]

Repeal

On July 10, 2018, seven of the thirteen city councillors – Phil Mendelson, Anita Bonds, Jack Evans, Brandon Todd, Kenyan McDuffie, Vincent C. Gray, and Trayon White  – introduced the Tipped Wage Workers Fairness Amendment Act of 2018, a bill designed to repeal Initiative 77. Mendelson, the chair of the council, claimed that the measure used misleading language and that he had heard from many tipped workers that opposed the measure. He also cited the fact that that voters reelected him knowing his opposition to the measure. [19] Proponents of the initiative, however, pointed out that it had received more popular support and votes than all of the councillors who faced re-election. [20]

The council held hearings about Initiative 77 on September 17. An overwhelming majority of the 243 witnesses who spoke were tipped workers that opposed it. The hearing stretched into the next day, officially ending at 3:20 am. [21]

On October 16, 2018, the D.C. Council voted eight to five in favor of passing the Tipped Wage Workers Fairness Amendment Act of 2018, effectively repealing Initiative 77. David Grosso joined the seven councillors that originally proposed the bill. It was the fifth ballot measure the council had overturned, which last happened in 2001. [22] The bill included last-minute provisions to address the concerns of a tipped minimum wage, including the creation of a hotline to report wage theft, a mandate for businesses to pay its employees using a third party in an attempt to reduce falsified records, and a mandate to train employers of tipped workers on sexual harassment and wage theft. [23] The government had to fund the provisions in order for them to take effect. [22] As late as January 2020, the provisions remained unfunded. [24]

D.C. residents were angered by the repeal, accusing the council of undermining the district's movement for statehood. The council, which is publicly angered when the U.S. Congress overturns its laws, was accused of hypocrisy both by residents and councillors that opposed repealing Initiative 77. Many residents reported to The Washington Post that they felt their votes did not matter, especially in a jurisdiction with already-limited voting rights. [25]

Attempted congressional intervention

On July 11, 2018, Mark Meadows and Gary Palmer, both Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced an amendment to the federal spending bill for 2019 to block Initiative 77 from taking effect, the day after the D.C. Council announced its intention to repeal the initiative. Congress can control the D.C. budget since it is allocated through the federal budget; the amendment stated that "none of the funds made available under [the budget] may be used by the District of Columbia government to carry out [Initiative 77]". [26] Several councillors spoke out against the congressional amendment, including some of those that supported the repeal effort. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district's nonvoting representative in Congress, also spoke out against the amendment. [27] The amendment did not appear in the final enacted budget bill. [28]

Initiative 82

In 2022, a nearly identical Initiative 82 was approved for the November 8, 2022 election. [29] It appears to have a better chance of going into effect if approved by voters. [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Mendelson</span> American politician from Washington, D.C

Philip Heath Mendelson is an American politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, elected by the Council on June 13, 2012, following the resignation of Kwame R. Brown. He was elected to serve the remainder of Brown's term in a citywide special election on November 6, 2012, and re-elected to a full term in 2014 and 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Evans (Washington, D.C., politician)</span> Washington, D.C. politician

John K. Evans III is an American lawyer and politician who served on the Council of the District of Columbia from 1991 to 2020 before resigning due to numerous ethics violations. Evans served as the chairman of the board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) until its ethics committee found he violated conflict of interest rules. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Ward 2 of Washington, D.C. from May 1991 to January 2020, making him the D.C. Council's longest-serving lawmaker. He ran for Mayor in 1998 and 2014, but lost in the Democratic primary both times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minimum wage in the United States</span>

In the United States, the minimum wage is set by U.S. labor law and a range of state and local laws. The first federal minimum wage was instituted in the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but later found to be unconstitutional. In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act established it at 25¢ an hour. Its purchasing power peaked in 1968, at $1.60 In 2009, it was increased to $7.25 per hour, and has not been increased since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in the District of Columbia</span>

The District of Columbia holds general elections every two years to fill various D.C. government offices, including mayor, attorney general, members of the D.C. Council, members of the D.C. State Board of Education, and members of its Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Additionally, citywide ballot measures may be proposed and voted on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938</span> United States wage law

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 29 U.S.C. § 203 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppressive child labor". It applies to employees engaged in interstate commerce or employed by an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, unless the employer can claim an exemption from coverage. The Act was enacted by the 75th Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938.

Ballot Measure 25 of 2002 increased Oregon's minimum wage from $6.50 to $6.90 per hour and required an annual increase to compensate for inflation in future years. Inflation is measured by the consumer price index. As of 2015, the minimum wage in Oregon is $9.25 an hour. The measure was approved in the November 5, 2002 general election with 645,016 votes in favor, 611,658 votes against.Itemized Measure Listings, Measure 25 page 17 The measure was placed on the ballot as a result of initiative petition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Grosso</span> American politician (born 1970)

David Grosso is an American attorney and politician. He is a former at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia who lives in Brookland. A native Washingtonian, he graduated from Earlham College and Georgetown University Law Center. Grosso is a member of the D.C. Bar. Following the completion of his second term on the D.C. Council, he joined the law firm Arent Fox as a lobbyist.

The tipped wage is base wage paid to an employee in the United States who receives a substantial portion of their compensation from tips. According to a common labor law provision referred to as a "tip credit", the employee must earn at least the state's minimum wage when tips and wages are combined or the employer is required to increase the wage to fulfill that threshold. This ensures that all tipped employees earn at least the minimum wage: significantly more than the tipped minimum wage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fight for $15</span> Political movement in the United States

The Fight for $15 is an American political movement advocating for the minimum wage to be raised to USD$15 per hour. The federal minimum wage was last set at $7.25 per hour in 2009. The movement has involved strikes by child care, home healthcare, airport, gas station, convenience store, and fast food workers for increased wages and the right to form a labor union. The "Fight for $15" movement started in 2012, in response to workers' inability to cover their costs on such a low salary, as well as the stressful work conditions of many of the service jobs which pay the minimum wage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Todd (politician)</span> American politician and lobbyist (born 1983)

Brandon Tristan Todd is a lobbyist for Washington Gas and a former American politician who represented Ward 4 on the Council of the District of Columbia. Todd previously worked in the Council office of Muriel Bowser and in various campaign positions during her successful campaign for Mayor of the District of Columbia. Todd won a special election in May 2015, succeeding Muriel Bowser, who was elected as mayor. After serving one full term on the council, Todd lost the 2020 Democratic primary to Janeese Lewis George.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Maine Question 4</span>

Maine Question 4, formally An Act to Raise the Minimum Wage, is a citizen-initiated referendum question that appeared on the Maine November 8, 2016 statewide ballot. It sought to increase Maine's minimum wage from $7.50 per hour to $12 an hour by 2020, as well as increasing the minimum wage for tipped employees gradually to the same level by 2024. It would also index increases after 2024 to inflation. As the Maine Legislature and Governor Paul LePage declined to enact the proposal as written, it appeared on the ballot along with elections for President of the United States, Maine's two U.S. House seats, the Legislature, other statewide ballot questions, and various local elections. Efforts to place a competing, more moderate proposal alongside the citizen-initiated bill were unsuccessful.

Robert C. White Jr. is an American attorney and politician who has served on the Council of the District of Columbia since 2016.

One Fair Wage is a nonprofit non-governmental organization in the United States that is led by Saru Jayaraman for restaurant workers to end the sub-minimum wage for tip workers who make less than the minimum wage before tips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairness Project</span> Charitable organization in the U.S.

The Fairness Project is a United States 501(c)(4) charitable organization created in October 2015. They promote general economic and social justice throughout the US by the use of ballot measures to circumvent deadlocks in law changes by the legislative and executive branches of government. They act as a national body by supporting state organizations and campaigns with targeted funding rather than by direct campaigning. They support the gathering of signatures to meet the variable requirements to trigger ballots in states and then aid the campaigns with early financial backing, strategic advice, and various campaign tools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Washington, D.C., mayoral election</span>

On November 8, 2022, Washington, D.C., held an election for its mayor. Incumbent Democrat Muriel Bowser was elected to a third term. The Republican nominee, Stacia Hall, received 2,368 votes in the primary, and independent candidate Rodney "Red" Grant garnered 4,700 signatures to gain ballot access. Both appeared on the general election ballot along with Libertarian Party candidate Dennis Sobin. D.C. Statehood Green Party nominee Corren Brown did not appear on the general election ballot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooke Pinto</span> American attorney and politician

Brooke Pinto is an American attorney and politician. In June 2020, she won the special election to succeed Jack Evans on the Council of the District of Columbia, representing Ward 2. She is the youngest council member in the District's history and the first woman to represent Ward 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 California Proposition 22</span> Gig economy workers employment status ballot initiative

Proposition 22 was a ballot initiative in California that became law after the November 2020 state election, passing with 59% of the vote and granting app-based transportation and delivery companies an exception to Assembly Bill 5 by classifying their drivers as "independent contractors", rather than "employees". The law exempts employers from providing the full suite of mandated employee benefits while instead giving drivers new protections:

Initiative 82 was a voter-approved ballot initiative in Washington, D.C., to phase out the special minimum wage for tipped employees as part of the national Fight for $15 campaign. In the November 2022 general election, D.C. voters approved Initiative 82 by a margin of 74% to 26%, though about 12% of all participating voters did not vote on the initiative. It was nearly identical to Initiative 77, a ballot measure in the 2018 primary election that was approved by D.C. voters but later overturned by the D.C. Council before it could enter into force.

The following is a list of ballot measures which were on the ballot for the 2022 United States elections. Some were held prior to the federal elections on November 8. Many were initiated by state legislatures, while others were initiated by public petitions.

References

  1. ↑ Austermuhle, Martin (October 22, 2014). "Labor Group Pushing for $15 Minimum Wage, Including for Tipped Workers". WAMU . Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Sadon, Rachel (June 19, 2018). "You've Heard of Initiatives 71 and 77. What Happened to 72-76?". DCist . Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  3. ↑ Kowalski, Allison (January 29, 2016). "The Fair Minimum: D.C. Voters Support a 5 Minimum Wage". Washington City Paper . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  4. ↑ Gregg, Aaron (August 24, 2015). "D.C. Business Advocate Files Lawsuit to Block Minimum Wage Initiative". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  5. ↑ Davis, Aaron C. (March 22, 2016). "D.C. Mayor Calls for Raising Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour by 2020". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  6. 1 2 Austermuhle, Martin (June 7, 2016). "D.C. Takes First Step Toward $15 Minimum Wage". WAMU . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  7. ↑ Zelikovitz, Justin (July 1, 2022). "What Is the 2022 D.C. Minimum Wage?". DC Wage Law. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Fair Shot Minimum Wage Emergency Amendment Act of 2016". Act No. 21-428 of June 28, 2016. Council of the District of Columbia . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 Austermuhle, Martin; Gomez, Amanda Michelle (October 19, 2022). "Here's Everything You Need to Know About Initiative 82". NPR . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  10. 1 2 Quinnell, Kenneth (June 18, 2018). "What You Need to Know About Washington, D.C.'s Initiative 77 and the Minimum Wage". AFL–CIO . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 Capps, Kriston (June 14, 2018). "D.C.'s War Over Restaurant Tips Will Soon Go National". Bloomberg News . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". DC Committee to Build a Better Restaurant Industry. Retrieved December 5, 2022. The tip credit is a relic of slavery and we believe tipped workers deserve one fair wage, with tips on top.
  13. ↑ Testino, Laura (December 16, 2020). "Fact Check: Tipping Began Amid Slavery, Then Helped Keep Former Black Slaves' Wages Low". USA Today . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  14. ↑ "D.C.'s War Over Restaurant Tips Will Soon Go National". June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  15. ↑ "'Born Out of the Fight Against 77,' Restaurant Workers Form a New Advocacy Group". Archived from the original on July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Getting rid of D.C.'s tipped minimum wage is not the right move for servers or diners". May 17, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Ballot measure to end 'tipped wage' in D.C. opposed by mayor, majority of council". May 16, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  18. 1 2 "Primary Election 2018 - Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections. July 9, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  19. ↑ Jamison, Peter (July 10, 2018). "Majority of D.C. Council Moves to Overturn Tipped-Wage Ballot Measure". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  20. ↑ Sadon, Rachel (July 10, 2018). "Seven Councilmembers Co-Introduce Bill To Repeal Tipped Minimum Wage Ballot Initiative". DCist . Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  21. ↑ Hayes, Laura (September 17, 2018). "Live Blog: Hearing on the Bill Repealing Initiative 77". Washington City Paper . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  22. 1 2 Nirappil, Fenit (October 16, 2018). "It's Official: D.C. Council Has Repealed Initiative 77, Which Would Have Raised Pay for Tipped Workers". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  23. ↑ Nirappil, Fenit (October 1, 2018). "On Eve of Vote to Repeal Initiative 77, Key D.C. Lawmaker Offers Some Concessions". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  24. ↑ Nirappil, Fenit (January 15, 2020). "D.C. Officials Passed a Law to Help Tipped Workers After Repealing a Wage Increase. It Was Never Funded". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  25. ↑ Nirappil, Fenit (October 5, 2018). "'Poisoning Democracy': In a City Without Representation in Congress, Repeal of Ballot Measure Angers Residents". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  26. ↑ Campbell, Alexia Fernández (July 12, 2018). "House Republicans Try to Block DC from Raising Wages for Restaurant Workers". Vox . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  27. ↑ Sands, Peggy (July 12, 2018). "Initiative 77 Saga Continues". The Georgetowner. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  28. ↑ "H.R.3877 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019". Public Law No. 116-37 of August 2, 2019. United States Congress . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  29. ↑ Martin Austermuhle; Amanda Michelle Gomez (October 19, 2022). "Here's everything you need to know about D.C.'s Initiative 82". NPR.org. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  30. ↑ Koma, Alex (September 20, 2022). "Most Councilmembers Won't Seek Another Repeal If Tipped Wage Ballot Measure Passes - Washington City Paper". Washington City Paper. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.