On Tuesday, Del. Adrian Boafo and anti-tip credit activist group One Fair Wage rallied in Annapolis to promote a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $25 with full tip credit elimination.
The problem? This experiment has played out before, and it backfired on workers.
Case in point: Neighboring Washington, D.C., recently adopted Initiative 82, a One Fair Wage-backed proposal to eliminate the tip credit with a high minimum wage requirement. The results were so disastrous, the City Council voted to stop it:
- Thousands of tipped restaurant workers lost their jobs, representing 5 percent of the restaurant industry.
- Tipped workers lost over $11 million in total earnings under Initiative 82, as they reported their tips declined and foot traffic at restaurants slowed.
- Washington, D.C. saw the number of restaurant closures rise every year under Initiative 82, the largest amount of closures since COVID.
Rebekah Paxton, research director at the Employment Policies Institute, had this to say about the new proposal:
“Delegate Boafo is ignoring what Maryland restaurant workers have been saying for years. They know that the tip credit allows them to take home more through their tips than a flat wage would provide, and they don’t want to see that system go away.”
In light of the failure of anti-tip credit law in neighboring D.C., Maryland state and local lawmakers have avoided making the same mistakes year after year, following repeated testimony from local tipped workers who oppose eliminating the tip credit. Even county councils in Del. Adrian Boafo’s own district have rejected similar laws: both Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties voted against similar proposals after hearing concerns from tipped workers in 2024.
More information on the negative impacts of tip credit elimination laws is available below:
- Maryland has a history of workers supporting the tip credit: In 2019, a $15 minimum wage bill was amended to leave out any changes to the tip credit system after employees expressed concerns about negative impacts on their jobs and income. In 2023, a bill to eliminate the state tip credit died in the state Senate, never even receiving a committee vote, after employees turned out with the same concerns. Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties both voted against proposals to eliminate county tip credits later that year. Several bills introduced in the state legislature in 2025 aimed at tip credit elimination were withdrawn or died in committee.
- Initiative 82 was passed by voters on the ballot in November 2022, despite vocal opposition from tipped workers and restaurant owners. The law was set to raise the base wage for tipped restaurant workers annually until the tip credit was fully eliminated in 2027.
- After overwhelming evidence documenting the consequences, the D.C. City Council voted to keep the tip credit, moving to a $10 an hour tipped wage that will increase every two years, capping off at 75% of the minimum wage in 2034.
- The best available government data shows a 5 percent employment loss for the industry due to Initiative 82, including thousands of jobs lost while restaurant closures are at the highest rate in any year since the pandemic.
- EPI analysis of quarterly government data showed D.C. tipped workers lost over $11.8 million in earnings under Initiative 82.
- In fact, a snapshot of local tipped workers’ experiences under Initiative 82 found 79% have earned less in tips under Initiative 82 than they did the year before it went into effect. Many attributed the lower tips to hours reductions, layoffs, reduced customer traffic, and higher menu prices scaring off customers.
- After the law went into effect, a staggering number of restaurant closures rolled in, including beloved local establishments whose owners relayed heartbreaking stories.
- Tipped workers testified in several hearings before the D.C. City Council condemning the law, with many saying their hours and earnings had been slashed, and tipping percentages have plummeted.
- The support for a tip credit follows a nationwide trend of voters and restaurant workers recognizing the negative impacts of drastic wage hikes and tip credit elimination laws. In fact, in November 2024, Massachusetts voters rejected a tip credit elimination and minimum wage hike law – following Democratic Governor Maura Healey voicing opposition based on her own experience as a tipped server. In February 2025, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer supported and signed legislation to protect the tip credit in the state following One Fair Wage’s litigation over a ballot measure from 2018.