Swing-state Democrat intros Trump-inspired No Tax on Tips bill in Congress

LAS VEGAS — A swing-state Democrat has taken up Donald Trump’s “No Tax on Tips” idea, with Rep.Steven Horsford introducing legislation that would give federal income relief to tipped workers earning less than $112,500 yearly.The Tipped Income Protection and Support Act or TIPS Act grants a tax break to qualifying cosmetology, hospitality and food-and-beverage-service workers, parking attendants and custodial-service employees.Asked if the provisions will apply to Nevada’s casino dealers — or to prostitutes in the Silver State’s legal brothels — a Horsford spokesman told The Post, “Hospitality is a very broad category that would include many workers in Nevada.”Horsford said his bill would also eliminate the “subminimum wage” for tipped workers, forcing employers to pay both the federal minimum wage and pass along tips.

Nevada is one of seven states where tipped workers get the state’s minimum wage — which jumped to $12 per hour in July — along with tips.The lawmaker, who chairs the influential Congressional Black Caucus, said in a Tuesday news conference that his measure would benefit the economically disadvantaged. “A disproportionate number of the 6 million tipped workers, who are women and people of color, make as little as $2.13 an hour, which really is poverty wages at a time when families and workers are trying to afford the cost of living,” Horsford said.“I have been leading the charge to close the racial wealth gap, and we can no longer tolerate the inequalities in the tipped work wage.”Not everyone agrees with the Democrat’s argument.

Rep.Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) chaired a House Education and the Workforce subcommittee hearing on tipped wages Wednesday, where he defended the status quo.

“The current system gives tipped workers the opportunity to thrive, and it doesn’t just help them, it helps the restaurants and small businesses that employ them,” Kiley said.Kiley also referred to a National Restaurant Associ...