Restaurant owners, workers hold competing rallies over potential repeal of Initiative 82

WASHINGTON () — Wednesday, business owners and workers held competing rallies outside the Wilson Building, as the D.C. Council considers the fate of Initiative 82.
Initiative 82 was passed in November of 2022 and implemented the following Spring. The voter backed law eliminates the tipped minimum wage by gradually raising wages over the next several years.
But that law is now in question, as Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed repealing I-82 under her 2026 budget.
'The economy we're dealing with, the environment for restaurants is vastly different than the economy and the environment that restaurants were operating in when this ballot measure was advanced,' said Bowser back in May.
It's a proposal some restaurant and bar owners support.
'It's been a pretty tremendous impact to our payroll,' said Diane Gross, co-owner of Cork Wine Bar and Market. 'With rising costs, federal workers losing their jobs, tariffs, it's all made it much, much harder to actually make any money in our business.'
Gross said the impacts ultimately hit the employees.
'In order to make the numbers add up for us and to stay open we've had to cut jobs, we've had to cut hours, we've had to take employees off of certain shifts,' she said.
She and others are calling on the Council to repeal I-82.
'We're hurting. This was not what was happening in 2022 when this passed, it's a totally new normal,' she said.
DC Council votes to pause July 1 wage bump under Initiative 82
The plea from restaurant owners comes one day after the Council the next pay raise allocated under I-82. This, as they consider how to move forward all together.
Alexis Zosel, a barista in Mount Pleasant, called any repeal a 'slap in the face' to workers.
'Respect the will of the voters. These are the same voters who voted you into office,' she said.
Zosel said she's seen her pay increase as a result of I-82.
Initially, she said her employer raised her pay from $9 an hour plus tips, to the full citywide minimum wage of about $17 an hour. To address the rise in costs, a service fee was instituted on all checks.
However, she said that led to confusion and a drop in tips. Her employer ultimately removed the service charge and opted to raise menu prices.
'Since then, I've seen my wages raise 18%. People are tipping more and it's not confusing,' said Zosel. 'People are okay with paying the higher prices. I think they understand there's inflation, there's rising costs and labor and goods, things like that.'
She also noted that I-82 has made her income more stable.
'Tips aren't secure. They vary by what position you might have. They vary by what restaurant you work in. There's discrimination,' she said. 'There's just a lot of things at play that can affect those things so just asking for the full minimum wage feels like the bare minimum.'
The Council has had mixed reactions to both a pause and potential full repeal. Though Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George said there should be no confusion on what to do.
'I'm just incredibly frustrated that we are as a city, relitigating what has been litigated for the last couple of years again,' she said. 'The residents of this city have voted overwhelmingly twice that they believe that tipped workers deserve to have a minimum wage just like every other worker in the city.'
She does not support a pause or repeal.
'The timeline has been known since this was enacted. We've known for two years, this July 1, this next increase was going to come,' said the councilmember. 'So I don't know why we need to pause while we're contemplating the budget of all things right now.'
The Council will spend the next month debating the budget, which includes the repeal of I-82. It's scheduled to take its first vote on the budget on July 14.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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