Photo by kelly bell photography

The D.C. Council will vote next Tuesday on a bill repealing Initiative 77, the ballot measure approved by D.C. voters in June that would gradually raise the minimum wage paid to tipped workers.

Chairman Phil Mendelson notified members of the Council on Thursday morning of the planned vote. In the notice, Mendelson’s staff said the vote must happen the first week of October, because Initiative 77 is expected to take effect on Oct. 9, at which point the tipped wage would immediately increase to $4.50 an hour. In July, it increased to $3.89 from $3.33.

The bill repealing Initiative 77 already has seven co-sponsors, the exact number needed to pass the Council. But because it is being considered as an emergency measure, it will need nine votes to pass, and would only remain in effect for 90 days. The Council would eventually have to vote on a permanent repeal bill.

Under D.C.’s current tipped wage system, employees at restaurants, nail salons and other businesses are paid $3.89 an hour by their employer, and allowed to collect tips on top of that. If those tips do not get them up to the prevailing minimum wage — now $13.25 an hour — their employer has to make up the difference.

Initiative 77, which was approved by 56 percent of voters during D.C.’s June 19 primary, gradually phases out the tipped wage system by increasing the minimum wage for tipped workers to $15 by 2025. Advocates for Initiative 77 say it would ensure that all tipped workers can earn a living wage, and that D.C. would not be an outlier, as a least seven states do not have a tipped wage.

But critics — which include many restaurant owners, along with servers and bartenders — say Initiative 77 would dramatically increase operating costs for businesses, and even lead some workers to see decreased earnings.

Both those sides were passionately on display during a 16-hour-long Council hearing on the proposed repeal last week, during which most Council members and more than 150 people spoke about the issue. Since then, the advocacy has continued. Today, a group of clergy went to Council offices to speak out against a possible repeal, and on Friday opponents of Initiative 77 say they will deliver more than 10,000 emails supporting the repeal to legislators.

In a newsletter sent to constituents this week, Mendelson defended the Council’s repeal bill. Over the last four decades, the Council has repealed four voter-approved ballot initiatives, including one that imposed mandatory minimum sentences for certain violent crimes and another that set term limits for the city’s elected officials.

“I acknowledge that there are voters who are offended that the Council is considering this,” he wrote. “I believe every Council member is uneasy about it. But I say this: The Council amends laws all the time. And if a law is a bad law it should be amended or repealed. It doesn’t matter if the law was adopted by Congress, the voters, or ourselves.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters this week that she would sign a bill repealing Initiative 77.

This story originally appeared on WAMU.

Previously:
Should Initiative 77 Be Repealed? Marathon Hearing Stretches Into Wee Hours
Here Are The Big Issues The D.C. Council Plans To Tackle When It Returns
Members Of Congress Are Sticking Their Noses In Initiative 77 Battle
Seven Councilmembers Co-Introduce Bill To Repeal Tipped Minimum Wage Ballot Initiative
D.C. Voters Approve Initiative 77, Ballot Measure That Eliminates Tipped Wage