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SB 809

Fire Programs Fund; aid to localities, requirement for emergency incidents reporting.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Christie Craig

It would constitutionally guarantee tipped workers a wage at least equal to the state minimum, independent of tips, restricting tip credits.

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Bill Summary · SB 809

SB 809 — Declaration of Rights: Right to Minimum Wage for Tipped Workers

Status: Withdrawn by sponsor | Introduced: 2025 (reported metadata: Feb 21, 2025)
Primary sponsor: Senator McCray (text identifies McCray)

Purpose / Intent

SB 809 proposes a constitutional amendment to the Maryland Declaration of Rights that would make it a fundamental right for workers in tipped occupations to receive at least the State minimum wage without counting tips toward that wage. The amendment is intended to protect tipped workers from reliance on tip income to reach minimum wage and to limit the State’s ability to authorize lower cash wages (i.e., “tip credits”) or otherwise allow tips to substitute for employer-paid wages.

Key provisions

  • Adds a new Article 49 to the Maryland Declaration of Rights stating (summary of bill language):
    • “Every person … while engaged in employment in the State with respect to which the payment of a tip is customary, has the fundamental right … to be paid at a wage rate that is at least equal to the State minimum wage rate set by law without regard to tips that the individual receives.”
    • The State may not “directly or indirectly, deny, burden, or abridge the right unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.” (i.e., strict scrutiny for any law that would limit the right)
  • Procedural mechanics included in the bill:
    • The General Assembly declared the measure affects multiple jurisdictions and exempted it from local ratification procedures.
    • If enacted by the legislature, the amendment would be submitted to voters at the next general election (the bill text specifies November 2026).

Who would be affected

  • Primary: Employees who customarily receive tips (restaurants, bars, hotels, certain personal services, etc.) in Maryland — who would have constitutional protection to receive at least the statutory state minimum wage independent of tips.
  • Employers in tipped industries: would no longer be able to rely on tips to meet minimum-wage obligations absent a constitutionally permissible justification; payroll and wage-setting practices (including tip credits, tip pooling policies, accounting, and wage notices) could be subject to constitutional challenge.
  • State and local policymakers: any statute, regulation, or administrative practice that allows lower cash wages for tipped workers would face strict scrutiny.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • Constitutional amendments in Maryland require the approval procedure the bill cites (the bill text references concurrence of three‑fifths of members of each chamber) and then voter approval at a statewide general election.
  • The bill text specified submission to voters at the November 2026 general election if the legislature approved it.
  • Current status (per your metadata): withdrawn by the sponsor — meaning the bill has been removed from active consideration and will not proceed unless reintroduced or reinstated by the sponsor or another legislator.

Potential impact and considerations

  • Substantively, enshrining this right in the State constitution would significantly constrain the legislature’s and regulators’ ability to authorize tip credits or other practices that allow employers to pay tipped employees less than the full minimum wage.
  • Because the right is framed as fundamental and subject to strict scrutiny, future changes to tipped-wage law would face a high legal standard.
  • Enforcement and implementation details (how employers must account for tips, retroactivity, interactions with federal law, collective bargaining, and tip-pooling rules) would likely require follow-up statutory and regulatory action and would be the focus of litigation if enacted.

If you want, I can draft a short one‑page explainer aimed at restaurant owners or at tipped workers summarizing what their obligations / rights would be under the amendment.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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