A three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a ballot initiative that would eliminate the tipped wage in D.C. can remain on the November ballot, putting the controversial issue one step closer to being decided by voters.

In an eight-page ruling, the judges rejected arguments from the restaurant industry that the D.C. Board of Elections had erred in counting the number of signatures gathered by proponents of Initiative 82 to put the measure on the November ballot.

If approved by voters, the initiative would slowly phase out the tipped wage system, which allows restaurant to pay workers who collect tips $5.05 an hour, and to make up the difference if their tips don’t get them to the city’s $16.10 minimum wage. If implemented, the initiative would instead require that those workers be paid the city’s prevailing minimum wage by 2027.

D.C. voters approved a similar initiative in 2018, but it was overturned by the D.C. Council under pressure from the restaurant industry and some bar and restaurant workers.

Proponents of eliminating the tipped wage — seven states currently don’t have one — celebrated the ruling, and predicted that D.C. voters would again cast ballots in their favor. They say that the tipped wage system gives employers too much power and can result in pay disparities.

“It’s time to put the ‘Great Resignation’ in the past and raise wages to create a level playing field for D.C. businesses and get restaurant workers back to work,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, in a statement.

Opponents of Initiative 82 still have one final attempt to keep the measure off the ballot: an appeal to the full Court of Appeals, which they would have to request by Friday. “We are considering that,” said Andrew Kline, an attorney with the Veritas Law Firm, which represents bar and restaurant owners and has waged a legal battle this year to keep Initiative 82 off the ballot.

But those same opponents also seem to be preparing for the issue to be decided at the ballot, having launched a website this week urging voters to keep the tipped wage system in place.

“If the tip credit is removed, the vibrancy of D.C.’s unique dining scene will be threatened,” argues the Vote No on 82 website. “Combined with rising inflation and skyrocketing rents across the city, it would be harder and harder for independent restaurants and bars to succeed. Sadly, your neighborhood restaurant and bar would struggle to make it in such an environment. Tipping helps fuel the high-quality guest service that has become a hallmark of the District’s world-class dining scene.”

Spending on both sides is expected to ramp up in the coming weeks. Proponents of Initiative 82 have raised more than $300,000, the majority coming from the Open Society Policy Center, an arm of the Open Society Network. Much of that money was spent on the effort to collect the signatures to get the initiative on the ballot.

Opponents have raised about as much, spending a majority of it on the legal fight. Roughly half the money came from the National Restaurant Association and the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, and the remainder from chains including Founding Farmers, Carmine’s, and Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and The Capital Grille. In 2018, Founding Farmers paid $1.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the chain of paying below the tipped minimum wage.

Proponents of Initiative 82 say they are also working to secure promises from lawmakers that they won’t again try to overturn the voters’ will should the initiative be approved; some, including Chairman Phil Mendelson, said ahead of the June 21 Democratic primary that they would allow the initiative to become law if the voters approved it.