Maryland tipped wage bill scrapped; advocates want voters to decide

August 21, 2024

Advocates pushing for a higher minimum wage for tipped workers announced Tuesday that they will press to take the question directly to Maryland voters in November after lawmakers scrapped a bill that would have raised the pay floor.

The shift follows a tepid bill hearing in the state Senate on Feb. 1, where skeptical lawmakers questioned how much local support the effort had after few Maryland restaurant workers showed up to testify in favor of the legislation.

Del. Adrian Boafo (D-Prince George’s), who was the lead sponsor of the House bill, said he intends to file a constitutional amendment that would put the question before voters in November, a move that he argues could draw tens of thousands of tipped workers to the polls in an election that also will decide the state’s stance on abortion access, a contested U.S. Senate seat and the presidency.

“This year, we have an opportunity to provide economic security for the 106,000 restaurant workers who may not only be living paycheck to paycheck but, like many, are dealing with the rising cost of living,” Boafo said.

Maryland employers must pay tipped workers at least $3.63 per hour but do not have to pay more than that if the employee’s wage plus tips equals the $15 hourly minimum wage for non-tipped workers across much of the state. Howard and Montgomery counties have slightly higher minimum wages.

Although voters in the District in 2022 passed Initiative 82, a measure that raised the pay floor for tipped workers to match their non-tipped peers, efforts to enact similar legislation in Maryland have not succeeded. Council members in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties floated proposals last year that would have increased wages for tipped workers at the county level, but they withdrew or tabled those bills. In several other states, including Massachusetts and Michigan, advocates are pushing ballot measures that would put the question directly to voters.

The proposals at the state and local levels have inspired intense pressure from advocates with the One Fair Wage coalition and their political rivals in the Restaurant Association of Maryland. At the Senate hearing, Melvin Thompson, a lobbyist for the association, argued that the legislation would result in lower wages for tipped workers because rising prices would lead customers to tip less. Tipped workers have testified on both sides of the issue, with some opponents raising the same concerns as Thompson.

Last year, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed the Fair Wage Act of 2023, which accelerated efforts to raise the minimum wage but did not do away with the tip credit that allows employers to pay tipped workers a lower wage. Although Moore has not taken a public stance on raising the minimum wage for tipped workers, the governor’s office said in a statement that he would review any bills that make it to his desk this legislative session.

Advocates with the One Fair Wage coalition, a national campaign that has successfully pushed for higher tipped wages in the District and Chicago, say the legislation faced a disadvantage because many tipped workers were not able to travel to Annapolis for a bill hearing.

“Instead of forcing workers to take time off between two and three jobs to go to Annapolis to ensure their voices are heard, we are bringing the issue to them,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage.

When a bill hearing in the Maryland House of Delegates was scheduled for Valentine’s Day — a holiday that often requires heavy staffing and brings in lucrative tips for many waiters, bartenders and other tipped workers — the coalition decided to take a new approach.

“They just couldn’t have picked a worse date,” Jayaraman added.

Boafo said the hearing date, coupled with new polling on the issue paid for by One Fair Wage, prompted him to pull his original bill and replace it with one that would put the question on the November ballot as a constitutional amendment for voters to decide. He said House rules prevent lawmakers from amending an existing bill to propose a constitutional amendment.

Del. Linda K. Foley (D-Montgomery), who co-sponsored the original bill, said she thinks the new approach will allow state officials to better understand how restaurant workers and customers who may not be able to show up in Annapolis truly feel about raising the tipped wage.

“By having it on the ballot you can get voters to weigh in,” she said.

With the shift in strategy, the campaign must now overcome several new barriers that may prove difficult.

The new legislation, which will be filed after the Feb. 9 deadline, must first clear the House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee — a prospect that Boafo acknowledged may be complicated by the unprecedented number of bills filed this year. If the measure passes out of committee, it will need a three-fifths majority vote in the legislature rather than the simple majority needed to pass legislation. Then the question would face one final hurdle: A simple majority of voters would be needed to pass the ballot measure.

Although a bill that would raise the tipped wage through legislation is still alive in the state Senate, Jayaraman said the One Fair Wage coalition will throw its weight behind the ballot measure.

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