Alejandro Villanueva is interviewed at a demonstration supporting the repeal of Initiative 77 outside the John A. Wilson District Building on July 9, 2018. (Photo by Becky Harlan / NPR)

The bill isn’t long and it was introduced quietly, but it gets the job done.

Seven councilmembers co-introduced legislation that would repeal an increase to the tipped minimum wage that was passed by voters last month. The ballot initiative would gradually phase out a lower wage rate earned by servers, nail technicians, delivery drivers, and other tipped workers until it equals the regular minimum wage in 2026 (currently, the combination of the lower rate and tips must equal the regular minimum wage, otherwise the employer must make up the difference).

The ballot initiative was approved with 55 percent of the vote in the June primary. Proponents say it will improve wages and working conditions for tipped workers.

But opponents, many of whom are affiliated with the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, mobilized immediately to bring the issue before the D.C. Council. They argue that it will threaten the viability of restaurants around the city and result in overall lower wages for waitstaff.

“My tipped employees are already not getting tips on their lines because people think they earn $15 an hour now. It’s dramatically impacting what they earn already,” said Mark Menard, who owns Barrel, Star & Shamrock, and Trusty’s, at a rally at the Wilson Building on Monday calling on lawmakers to overturn Initiative 77.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson was joined by councilmembers Anita Bonds, Jack Evans, Kenyan McDuffie, Vincent Gray, Brandon Todd, and Trayon White on Tuesday in introducing the “Tipped Wage Workers Fairness Amendment Act of 2018.” The bill was filed with the Council secretary, but it was not given a symbolic introduction at the dais.

Proponents of the initiative cried foul, saying they waited for hours to hear the logic behind the bill.

“Initiative 77 got more votes than Anita Bonds, than Jack Evans, than Brianne Nadeau in her own ward, and it got the same amount of votes as Phil Mendelson,” said One Fair Wage Coalition spokesperson Diana Ramirez. (Evans was not up for re-election for his Ward 2 seat during the 2018 June primary, but he did run for a seat on the Democratic National Committee). “These are the same constituents who just voted them into office and re-elected them. I think they deserve to tell us why they introduced this.”

Should seven councilmembers continue to support the repeal, that would be enough to ensure passage; Mayor Muriel Bowser has also been vocally opposed to the measure. Still, there’s talk of a potential compromise at the D.C. Council by lengthening the implementation period rather than repealing it altogether.

Such a deal “would run along the lines of preserving the principle of what was decided but at the same time giving latitude to restaurants to adjust to the change And that would be to extend the period of implementation, let’s say, to 15 years,” said Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh. “If we did and we went from the current $5 to $15, that would be less than a dollar a year. And surely over time that could be adapted.”

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen noted that he voted against Initiative 77 but doesn’t take it lightly to overturn the will of voters. “I think we should bring in experts, hear more from the public, and then make a decision at that point,” he said. “I think there’s absolutely a compromise to be had.”

Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau echoed that sentiment in a statement. “While I didn’t support this initiative at the ballot box, Ward 1 voters did. The bill introduced today would be a full repeal of the initiative, which I do not feel comfortable with … My sincere hope is that there is a path forward that addresses the concerns of the tipped employees I’ve heard from, that will ensure fair wages, and will help out tipped industries continue to thrive.”

Still, Mendelson doesn’t appear to believe that there’s a solution in the middle of the two camps.

“There are not a lot of compromise ideas that come to mind,” he told The Washington Post’s Pete Jamison on Monday. “But that’s the whole purpose of a hearing, is to invite suggestions.”

The D.C. Council will take up the legislation after it returns from summer recess.

Reporting contributed by WAMU’s Martin Austermuhle and Dani Matias. This post has been updated to reflect that Jack Evans was on a citywide ballot for a seat on the Democratic National Committee.

More:
D.C. Councilmembers Planning Bill To Repeal Initiative 77
10 Things You Should Know About Initiative 77 And The 2018 D.C. Primary
D.C. Voters Approve Initiative 77, Ballot Measure That Eliminates Tipped Wage
Initiative 77 Doesn’t Just Affect Servers. Why Haven’t We Heard From Delivery Drivers, Nail Technicians, Bellhops, And Others?
You’ve Heard Of Initiatives 71 and 77. What Happened To 72-76?