Via Shutterstock

Yesterday, a Council committee advanced a bill that would raise the minimum wage in D.C. to $11.50 an hour by 2016 and would tie future changes to the Consumer Price Index.

But according to a poll commissioned by D.C. Working Families, a coalition pushing a minimum wage ballot initiative, 74 percent of the 606 voters polled would support a hike to $12.50, as well as a base wage of $8.75 for tipped workers.

The Council’s bill doesn’t guarantee a base minimum wage hike for tipped workers. In theory, the tipped credit ensures that these types of workers are paid whatever the minimum wage is. Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) said restaurants will have to certify that employees are being fully compensated.

The poll also presented the opposition’s stance that a wage hike would hurt small businesses and some employees, especially young people of color. A majority of voters, 65 percent, said they still would support the ballot initiative. That number dropped to 58 percent when those polled were reminded of how large the minimum wage jump would be: $4.

“It’s no surprise that powerful corporations want to pull the minimum wage proposal downward. And sadly, it’s no surprise that some of our politicians are listening to them, instead of the people they represent who overwhelmingly support a minimum wage of $12.50 according to new polling,” Delvone Michael, executive vice president of D.C. Working Families, said in a statement. “Luckily, next year, the people of the District will have a chance to make their voices heard.”