Rep. Walsh Renews Call for Raise of Tipped Minimum Wage
Friday, March 06, 2020
State Representative Moira Walsh (D-Dist. 3, Providence) is renewing her call for a raise of the tipped minimum wage.
This comes as a $1 raise in Rhode Island’s hourly minimum wage in October is on its way to Governor Gina Raimondo’s desk after approval by the General Assembly Wednesday.
Walsh is calling for the passage of her bill that would gradually increase the tipped minimum wage and tie it to raises in the standard minimum wage.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Just getting fifty cents or a dollar this year isn’t going to mean much if servers have to keep coming back here every year for a few cents to try to make up for lost ground and not fall behind again. If tipped employees are going to have a minimum wage that is less than their non-tipped counterparts, it’s only fair that it should be a rate that better reflects the original intention of the law establishing it, and that it should rise alongside minimum wage proportionately,” said Walsh.
Walsh’s Bill
Walsh’s bill (2020-H 7466) would institute a 50-cent increase on Jan. 1, 2021, and continue to raise the tipped minimum wage by 50 cents each year until it is equal to at least two-thirds of the standard minimum wage.
Then it would be linked to the standard minimum wage, rising by two-thirds of any increase made to the standard rate.
Walsh added, “Tipped employees face the same rising costs of living as everyone else, so when it’s determined that minimum wage should increase, so should the tipped minimum wage.”
The bill, which had a hearing before the House Labor Committee yesterday, is co-sponsored by Rep. Edith H. Ajello (D-Dist. 1, Providence), Rep. John J. Lombardi (D-Dist. 8, Providence), Rep. Raymond A. Hull (D-Dist. 6, Providence, North Providence), and Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty (D-Dist. 35, South Kingstown).
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