Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a heavily amended restaurant wage bill this week while issuing a warning to local municipal leaders, whose action it would take to make any changes reality.
With his pen Tuesday, Polis passed into law one of the year’s most contentious pieces of legislation — which no one, including the governor, had been particularly enthused about. And the discontent is likely to continue.
Aimed squarely at leaders in Denver and Boulder, House Bill 1208 allows local governments to adjust the subminimum wage paid to tipped workers in restaurants. Currently, the tipped minimum wage is pegged at $3.02 less than the standard minimum wage. That means, for places like Denver or Boulder that have increased their standard minimum wages above the state’s, the tipped minimum has gone up automatically, too.
Should Boulder, Denver and Edgewater — which has also increased its minimum wage — not make use of the new law by lower their tipped minimums, Polis warned in a signing statement, the legislature may return to the issue again next year — “this time more assertively.”
That’s a reference to how much HB-1208 had been watered down from its initial version. The dining industry, warning that it’s still flagging after the pandemic and amid rising costs, including wages, had asked lawmakers to directly cut the tipped minimum wage. Initially, HB-1208 would’ve directly cut wages in the places with higher minimums.
It was backed by Polis, but the proposal split the Democratic caucus that controls the Capitol, while drawing some Republican opposition, too.
Some Democrats backed the wage cuts as a needed balm for restaurants, while others — spurred on by deeply opposed labor groups — blasted HB-1208’s initial draft as a pay cut for workers on behalf of powerful business interests.
That opposition prompted the compromise that became HB-1208: not a direct pay cut, but a nudge to local governments to take action. When the deal was reached earlier this spring, both supporters — like the Colorado Restaurant Association — and opponents criticized it as either doing too little or too much.
In his statement Tuesday, Polis wrote that HB-1208 was an “important first step in addressing this issue and ensuring that restaurants across Colorado can thrive.” But he warned that he wanted the local governments to make use of the law and to lower the tipped minimum wage.
“We heard through the process a desire to maintain local control so that localities can address this problem themselves,” Polis wrote. “We’ve given them that opportunity and now they must act to preserve this important industry. I will be closely watching progress in these two key jurisdictions, where restaurants are facing particular difficulties.”
It’s unclear if that’ll happen.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston supported the initial version of HB-1208, which would’ve directly cut wages. Members of his administration testified in support of it, and two Denver-based Democratic lawmakers — Reps. Steven Woodrow and Alex Valdez — were the primary sponsors.
But members of the City Council were vocally opposed and also testified against it.
Denver’s minimum wage is $4 higher than the state minimum — $18.81 per hour — meaning the tipped minimum wage in the capital is $15.79.
Johnston spokesman Jon Ewing said Wednesday that it was too early to say if the city would make use of HB-1208 and follow through on Polis’ request.
“We’ll review the finished legislation and discuss with council to determine next steps,” he said. “What is clear is that more must be done to help the restaurant industry, and we’ll keep working to ensure businesses can hire a full staff and pay those employees a fair, living wage.”
Shannon Aulabaugh, a spokeswoman for the city of Boulder, said in an email that changes to the tipped minimum “will be a political decision to be made by (the City Council), and it is inappropriate for us to speculate on how Boulder will respond.”
Dan Maples, Edgewater’s city manager, said in an email that the City Council there hadn’t investigated the new law yet. He said the city will likely monitor what happens in Denver. He declined to comment on Polis’ threat that the state would again step in if the cities don’t act.
In a stronger show of support than it had expressed when the bill was first amended, the restaurant association praised the bill’s passage Wednesday and urged cities to follow through on Polis’ ask.
“This is a huge accomplishment for independent restaurants across Colorado,” Sonia Riggs, the group’s CEO and president, said in a statement. “It protects the traditional tipping model as a viable option, which most local restaurants utilize. Now that local governments have the authority to increase their tip offset, we hope to empower Denver City Council and others to … help our industry thrive.”
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