Bill about tip screens
Maryland considered a rule for tip screens. It did not become law.
What states and D.C. are doing
Has anyone tried to rein in aggressive tip screens?
Hardly anyone. This map separates laws about the tip screen itself from laws about mandatory fees. They are not the same thing.
Verified through August 19, 2026Official government sources only
Related laws
California, Washington, and D.C. address certain fee disclosures. They do not ban or redesign voluntary tip prompts.
Nothing specific found
We have not found a measure aimed at aggressive tip prompts in the other 47 states.
All 50 states + D.C.
Start with the four colored places
Coral means a bill addressed the tip screen itself. Yellow means a law deals with fees instead. Gray means we found neither.
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Coral: directly addresses automatic tip promptsYellow: related fee disclosure, not a tip-screen ruleGray: no specific measure identified
Why the colors matter
Direct means the proposal says what a tip screen may show or select. Related means the law is about mandatory charges or fee disclosures. A related law does not regulate the tip buttons.
MD
Direct proposal · failed to become law
Maryland HB 385 (2025)
The proposal would have required a point-of-sale tip screen to say who receives the tip and to start at zero by default. It passed the House 96 to 37, then stopped after a Senate hearing.
Plain English: this is the only measure found that directly addressed how an automatic tip prompt behaves.
Maryland General Assembly record ↗ · Third-reader bill text ↗
CA
Related law · enacted
California SB 1524 (2024)
Food-service businesses using mandatory charges must display them clearly and explain their purpose. The bill was chaptered in June 2024.
Plain English: this is a fee-disclosure law, not a tip-screen ban.
WA
Related law · enacted
Washington RCW 49.46.160
Certain automatic service charges must disclose on menus and itemized receipts what percentage goes directly to employees.
Plain English: this governs service-charge disclosures, not suggested tip buttons.
DC
Related consumer-protection rule
Washington, D.C. fee disclosure rules
D.C. restaurants must clearly disclose the type and amount of a service fee before a customer orders, and explain what the fee is for.
Plain English: D.C. targets hidden or misleading fees, not the voluntary tip buttons themselves.
One caveat: this is not legal advice. A gray state may still have consumer-protection, wage, or gratuity laws; we simply did not find one aimed at the screen behavior tracked here.