This week, several attempts to eliminate tip credits and spike minimum wage requirements were scrapped.
- In Maryland, One Fair Wage supported a pair of companion bills that would have created a $25 hourly minimum wage and eliminated the state tip credit. The bills failed to meet the state’s crossover deadline and are now unlikely to advance out of committee.
- In Michigan, One Fair Wage was behind a referendum effort to overturn the state’s 2025 minimum wage law and eliminate the tipped wage system, but the campaign recently collapsed after organizers failed to collect enough signatures to make the 2026 ballot.
State and local governments across the country are in session, with many active proposals to increase minimum wages and eliminate the tip credits currently under consideration, including:
- Illinois: HB 5367 would increase the state’s minimum wage from $15 to $27 per hour by 2032, and fully eliminate the state’s tip credit, which is currently 40% of the overall minimum wage. EPI noted in written testimony to the state House this week that Illinois’ last wave of wage hikes has decimated restaurant industry jobs in the state. A separate proposal, HB 4263, would centralize authority over tipped wage policy at the state level, preventing localities from creating their own policies.
- New York State: A10507 proposes an increase in the Empire State’s overall minimum wage to $30 per hour for all parts of the state by 2030.
- New York City: City Councilmember Sandy Nurse proposed a bill to raise the Big Apple’s minimum wage from $17 to $30 an hour by 2030 for large employers and 2032 for smaller businesses. The legislation would also fully eliminate the city’s tip credit.
- Oklahoma: In June, voters will decide on state ballot Question 832, which would raise the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour. It would not affect the state’s tip credit.
- Pennsylvania: The state House of Representatives passed a bill to raise Pennsylvania’s overall minimum wage from $7.25 to $15, and the tipped wage from $2.83 to $9 per hour. The bill will now go to the Senate, which has not taken up similar proposals in previous legislative sessions.
Also of note, on Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoed last week’s City Council vote to freeze the city’s tip credit at 24% and effectively reverse the One Fair Wage law. To move forward with the freeze, the City Council would need a supermajority of votes to override the Mayor’s veto.
The outcomes in Maryland, Michigan, and Chicago are promising developments, but with similar proposals still moving forward across the country, policymakers should carefully consider the potential impacts on workers and businesses before pursuing any more aggressive wage hikes.