Ban Tipping in California and Mandate Fair Wages for Service Workers

California should lead the country by banning tipping and requiring restaurants to pay service workers a real wage. The current system is broken — it lets customers, consciously or not, pay workers differently based on race, gender, or sexuality. That's not a feature of tipping culture, it's a documented flaw, and we shouldn't be legislating it into permanence. The tip-free model works. Restaurants like Nightshade Noodle Bar in Massachusetts and Dirt Candy in New York have proven that paying staff $21 to $40 an hour leads to lower turnover and more stable teams. The tradeoff is higher menu prices, but customers who understand what they're paying for accept it. California already leads on labor standards — this is the logical next step. Pass legislation that phases out tipping and sets a livable base wage for all service workers, front and back of house alike.