The D.C. Council unanimously approved emergency legislation Tuesday postponing the implementation of ballot-approved Initiative 82 by a few months. D.C. employers are now required to raise the wages of their tipped workers from $5.35 per hour to $6 beginning in May. Tipped workers will then see their wages rise again in July to $8 per hour.

In November, D.C. residents overwhelmingly voted in favor of eliminating the tipped minimum wage over a five year period. The ballot measure outlined a wage increase beginning January 2023, going up by a dollar or two until 2027, which is when their base pay is supposed to be equal to the standard prevailing minimum wage.

But the ballot measure didn’t take effect at the start of the year, in part due to congressional interference. The city’s Home Rule Act requires every bill passed by the Council and signed by the mayor to be transmitted to Congress for a 30-day review period. But because of a leadership vacuum in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Council couldn’t send dozens of bills to Congress earlier this month, including Initiative 82; no one in the U.S. House of Representatives could officially receive the bills. There was no Speaker of the House until a week into January amid a leadership vote standoff among Republican lawmakers.

During Tuesday’s legislative meeting, At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds, who is the new chair of the labor committee, said she introduced an emergency bill that would set a new effective date for Initiative 82 that tracks with the congressional review period. Bonds also said Initiative 82 faced delays because organizers had intended to put the measure on the June primary ballot, instead of the November general election. The legislation does not impact the rest of the pay schedule, added Bonds, so slated annual wage increases will continue through 2027.

“This clarification will mitigate the confusion and provide businesses with sufficient notice to prepare for the accurate implementation of the law,” said Bonds.

Bonds initially introduced legislation that would have had the first round of wage increases beginning earlier, in March. When asked about the change by Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, Bonds said: “The expected date that the congressional review period will end is the 20th of April. And so the thought was we would want to start with May 1 for clarification for everyone.”

Organizers who put tipped minimum wage on the D.C. ballot took issue with Bonds’ emergency legislation. Ryan O’Leary, who proposed Initiative 82 as part of DC Committee to Build a Better Restaurant Industry, said he was disappointed and confused by the May effective date. He said Bonds did not consult him nor anyone else in the pro-82 campaign group. “I just want this passed as soon as possible. D.C. workers have waited far to long. They’ve been waiting since 2018,” O’Leary said, alluding to a nearly identical ballot initiative that year which the Council overturned.

Nikolas Schiller, the director of communications for the pro-82 campaign, believes Bonds has been swayed by the restaurant industry, which opposes the measure. “Every pay raise, the restaurant owners are going to make a little bit less money,” said Schiller. “Any delay is taking money from tipped workers’ pockets, any delay beyond March 8.”

According to the Council’s Legislative Information Management System (LIMS), Initiative 82 should have been slated to take effect March 8 because it was transmitted to Congress January 10. That tracks with the congressional calendar, which can change. Review can occur when either chamber is in session.

Andrew Kline of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington said his group supported Bonds’ bill and worked with the lawmaker on a new effective date to give their members clarity and because there’s been a lot of confusion among restaurant owners. He said the May effective date worked for them because it gave them a clearer timeline in addition to time to educate the business community. RAMW is also still working with lawmakers on  legislation that would ease the transition for restaurants, according to Kline. “Business people have their hands full,” Kline told DCist/WAMU. “Are running their restaurant. Still dealing with the after effects of coming out of a pandemic, just trying to survive. Getting their attention is very difficult.”

Kline also said he didn’t feel strongly between a March effective date versus a May effective date. But Schiller said Kline sent their team a calendar showing Initiative 82 took effect in late April due to congressional review. He suspects lawmakers, including Bonds, used RAMW’s time estimate instead of the one offered by LIMS. Kline did not immediately respond to a follow-up request for comment.

In an email following publication, Bonds’ deputy chief of staff and communications director, Kevin Chavous, maintained his boss is “going by the calendar used by those in Congress.” “The [councilmember] doesn’t want to keep introducing measures to push back the effective date,” Chavous said. “We believe the effective date of the bill should be the first of the month, so the May 1st date is the earliest date that makes sense.” (Notably, emergency legislation can bypass the congressional review period, so Initiative 82 could take effect immediately if lawmakers wanted to go that route.)

Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, a local group that helped door knock for the pro-82 campaign, said they were surprised to see implementation start in May, “but we understand the reasoning behind the change.”

“We expect that there won’t be any more delays in implementing the initiative and that our Council will work to uphold the will of the voters,” the group’s steering committee said in a statement. “During this time of skyrocketing rents and increased cost of living, tipped workers deserve to take home higher pay to sustain themselves and their families as soon as possible. This is further proof that DC deserves statehood and the right to govern ourselves – it is unfair to delay raises for DC workers and undemocratic for Congress to oppose the will of the voters.”

This post has been updated to include comment from Bonds’ deputy chief of staff and communications director, Kevin Chavous. Martin Austermuhle contributed reporting.