As Illinois legislators consider eliminating tipped wage, one city
reconsiders
[May 07, 2025]
By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – As efforts continue to eliminate the tipped
minimum wage in Illinois, one major city that made the move is throwing
in the towel.
After being blamed for the closure of numerous restaurants and thousands
of job losses in the service industry, the mayor of Washington D.C. is
calling for the repeal of a law requiring tipped employees to be paid
the full minimum wage.
"D.C. restaurants are facing a perfect storm, from increased operating
and supply costs to higher rents and unique labor challenges," Muriel
Bowser said in a statement. "D.C. must rebalance our system to ensure
local restaurants can survive, compete, and employ D.C. residents."
The announcement follows a six-hour hearing before the D.C. City Council
where tipped workers expressed their opposition to the law and called
for a halt to additional wage increases. Proponents of the One Fair Wage
law in D.C. called the effort a “success”.
Chicago began phasing out the tipped wage last year and there is talk
about ending it statewide. Mayor Brandon Johnson said eliminating the
tipped wage has stabilized the workforce.
“What was happening for many of those workers, particularly brown and
Black women, couldn’t find some level of stability and continuity,”
Johnson said on Tuesday.
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Advocates for ending Illinois' tipped wage gather outside the
Illinois State Capitol - BlueRoomStream
The Illinois Restaurant Association opposes the law, citing fears
that the increase in costs for operators would force them to raise
prices and thus driving away customers, harming restaurant
businesses in the long term.
Rebekah Paxton, research director of the nonprofit research group
Employment Policies Institute, said what happened in D.C. should be
a warning sign for Chicago and beyond.
“Chicago already has lost 5,000 jobs or more, according to the best
available data,” said Paxton. “We also know that service fees have
been on the rise in Chicago so there are certainly early indicators
of damage already done, and so we just hope that this is a flashing
red warning sign for the rest of the country, especially Illinois.”
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