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As state legislatures start off the new year, lawmakers have been quick to jump on new minimum wage hike proposals, including bills that would eliminate state tip credits. The research on potential impacts of these bills is clear: they employees by reducing employment opportunities, limiting earnings, and forcing businesses to…

This week, the Maryland Senate Finance Committee heard public testimony on SB 160, a bill that would eliminate Maryland’s tip credit and raise the base wage for tipped restaurant workers by over 300 percent by 2027. The bill mirrors legislation from last year that died in the committee after restaurant…

It’s no secret that California and its flagship cities have become notorious for burdensome mandates. California also has the highest state minimum wage in the nation at $16 per hour effective January, with many of its cities raising rates even higher. San Francisco currently requires a minimum wage of $18.07…

As state legislatures start off the new year, lawmakers have been quick to jump on new minimum wage hike proposals, including bills that would eliminate state tip credits. The research on potential impacts of these bills is clear: they employees by reducing employment opportunities, limiting earnings, and forcing businesses to…

Marking the anniversary of ill-fated Initiative 82 in Washington, D.C. at the end of 2023 were serious consequences: lost restaurant jobs, lost tip earnings for restaurants’ servers and bartenders, and even a wave of beloved neighborhood restaurant closures. In the Wall Street Journal, EPI’s Michael Saltsman and Rebekah Paxton write about the…

In 2022, lawmakers in Hawaii approved a bill to put Hawaii’s minimum wage higher than any other state in the country: to reach $18 per hour by 2028. The state also has a minimal tip credit allowance for restaurant employers to count $1.25 in tips toward the higher minimum wage…

Decades of economic research has documented how minimum wage hikes cause employment loss and business closures. In a year with a record number of wage hikes and historic inflationary increases, 2023 has seen mass business casualties, particularly for the restaurant industry, as a result of the activism for higher wage…

Earlier this year, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage up to $17 per hour and eliminate the tip credit, a hike of more than 134 percent. This week, the Congressional Budget Office released a review of the economic impacts of Sanders’ proposal, detailing the…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that in November, the price of dining out increased three times more than the price of eating at home. As states and cities across the nation brace to raise minimum wages in the New Year, elected officials should be wary of the impacts…

As the year draws to a close, states and local areas are preparing for a wave of minimum wage hikes beginning January 1. This year, 91 jurisdictions will raise minimum wages, including in 26 states, 64 cities and counties, and Puerto Rico. As more areas are enacting minimum wage increases…