Initiative 77

WASHINGTON — The D.C. Council has voted to repeal Initiative 77. The initiative, approved by voters in June, would have raised minimum base pay for tipped workers to standard minimum wage over a period of time. After heated discussions, the…

D.C. lawmakers have long complained that residents of the nation’s capital pay federal taxes and serve in the military yet are denied self-governance because they lack a vote in Congress. But on Tuesday, the D.C. Council reduced even the…

Just four months after District voters approved an initiative to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers, the D.C. Council voted to overturn it. It might seem like an odd fate for Initiative 77, which got 55 percent of the popular vote in…

In a few hours the D.C. Council will vote on emergency and permanent legislation repealing Initiative 77. But before that could happen, councilmembers had to decide where they stood on Councilmember Elissa Silverman's proposed compromise…

D.C. lawmakers on Tuesday took initial steps to overturn an initiative that would have raised the minimum wage for servers, bartenders and other workers who rely on tips, just four months after voters easily passed the measure. The D.C.…

The District lawmaker who wants to overturn a wage hike for tipped workers that was approved by voters says he has amended his bill to address some concerns raised by proponents of the hike. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) released…

As D.C. lawmakers appear poised to overturn Initiative 77, some Council members are making a last-ditch effort to strike a compromise. Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) says she’s working with Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) on a bill that…

Councilmember Elissa Silverman was one of the last three councilmembers standing during the 16-hour hearing on the bill repealing Initiative 77, and now we know why. She's been working on replacement legislation that offers a compromise…

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said Friday that he has secured enough votes and is moving ahead to overturn a voter-approved minimum wage increase for servers, bartenders and other tipped workers in the nation’s capital.

A strange thing happened this summer. Initiative 77, which, in its most simplistic characterization, increased the minimum wage for tipped workers, was approved in a primary election in June. At first glance and in such a progressive city,…

Early next week, the fate of Initiative 77 will be decided, when legislation to fully repeal it will be considered. Taking away a pay raise from 29,000 workers—leaving them to make ends meet on $5 an hour plus tips—would be unfortunate,…

It feels like like two-minute warning in football as individuals on each side of the contentious tipped minimum wage debate take their final time-outs to urge legislators to vote yes or no on the bill repealing Initiative 77 on Tuesday.…

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…

Dia King was number 171 in line and didn’t know if he would get a chance to speak in front of the D.C. Council. But if he did, he knew what he wanted its members to know.

Lawmakers in the District of Columbia are preparing to overturn a ballot measure that voters passed in June to raise wages for restaurant workers.

Inside a packed hearing room at the Wilson Building on Monday, dozens of D.C. bar and restaurant workers made one thing clear: They don’t want a raise. At least not one mandated by the city. That was the apparent consensus among many…

District lawmakers Monday grappled with whether they should take the extraordinary step to overturn a law approved by voters that raises wages for servers, bartenders and others who earn tips. A marathon hearing on a bill to repeal…

The D.C. restaurant industry spent the summer grappling with a divisive ballot referendum that seeks to eliminate the tip credit in the District. Today the pros and cons of Initiative 77 will resurface at a marathon hearing on a bill…