DC judge halts effort to put new tipping measure on ballot

A Washington, D.C., Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday against a group of advocates attempting to secure a new ballot measure to alter the minimum wage for tipped workers after the law was approved by voters but overturned by the D.C. Council earlier this year.

The Washington Post reported that Judge Neal Kravitz determined that elections officials failed to follow proper procedures when they allowed organizers to collect signatures calling for a second referendum.

Kravitz’s ruling came as organizers were set to submit more than 25,000 signatures required to request another vote, the Post reported.

{mosads}The judge said the D.C. Council can accept the signatures but decline to act on them. In the event that a higher court reverses his decision, the council will then have the signatures on file to act on, he said.

Proponents of the ballot measure are seeking another vote on Initiative 77, which was approved by 55 percent of voters in June.

The law would have ended a system that allows employers to pay as low as $3.89 hourly to tipped workers as long as customer gratuities add up to the minimum wage, and would have gradually increased the minimum wage for tipped workers to meet the local requirement.

The D.C. Council voted in October to repeal the measure, which was opposed by members of the restaurant industry.