D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie’s bill is almost as contentious as Initiative 82, the measure that ends the District’s tipped minimum wage.

Progressive activists and the restaurant industry have been fighting for years over the fate of the tipped wage, and D.C. voters may again be asked to decide the issue at the ballot box.

A move to increase D.C.’s tipped minimum wage is back, but restaurants pummeled by the pandemic aren’t fighting it like they did before. Why?

At the moment, there is no certification process or body that ensures restaurant employees are being paid a tip credit.