Earlier this year, thousands of Black voters across the District voted overwhelmingly to pass Initiative 77, a ballot measure which would gradually raise the tipped minimum wage. Initiative 77 passed in the District with 56% of the vote, with the highest support coming from DC’s Blackest and lowest income neighborhoods. But the mayor and a majority of the D.C. city council are working at the behest of the wealthy restaurant industry to shut down Initiative 77 before it’s implemented, effectively throwing out tens of thousands of Black votes.
Color Of Change is taking out full page ads in the Washington City Paper and East of the River to let the mayor and D.C. council know that this will not stand!
In a city whose residents are already disenfranchised in Congress, it’s unconscionable that the mayor and city council would ignore the will of the voters and throw out the results of a fair and democratic election. Tipped workers deserve better. The residents of D.C. deserve better.