DC straw ban, higher minimum wage coming Monday

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A plastic straw ban, higher minimum wage and happy hour promotions are among the new laws hitting the DMV on Monday.

The hourly minimum wage in the District will rise to $14, and tipped workers will make at least $4.45 an hour starting July 1. Employers will make up the difference if tips fall short of $14 per hour.

DC's minimum wage will rise to $15 next year and increase with inflation afterward.

Montgomery County businesses with more than 50 employees will raise their minimum wages to $13 per hour. Smaller businesses will pay $12.50. Maryland has approved a $15 minimum wage that takes effect in 2025.

District inspectors will also start fining restaurants $100 to $800 for using plastic straws, depending on repeat offenses. Businesses are allowed to keep a small stock of plastic straws for customers with disabilities.

Maryland will enact a statewide ban on plastic foam cups and food containers, but companies have until July 1, 2020, to comply.

Elsewhere in Maryland, Johns Hopkins University will be the first private university in the country to form its own police force.

Maryland will also become the first state in the country to create an oversight board charged with lowering prescription drug costs.

The District will start collecting a 0.62 percent payroll tax from businesses to fund a mandated eight weeks of paid time off for new parents, six weeks to care for an ill relative and two weeks of personal sick time for private-sector workers.

Virginia will raise the age to buy tobacco and vaping products to 21, but will loosen its happy hour laws. Bars will soon be able to publicly advertise discount prices for happy hours.

And Prince George's County movie theaters will start offering brew-and-views: movie theaters that have spent at least $5 million in renovating or remodeling can start selling alcohol. The average daily sales of food must exceed alcohol sales.