Las Vegas — For waiters, dealers and bartenders on the Vegas Strip, tips aren’t just a thank you — they’re a paycheck.
“There are some days we do really good, and people will be surprised like, ‘Oh my God, you made that in one day?’ And then, you know, more often than not, you make nothing,” Sebastian Espinoza said.
Bussing tables at one of the city’s biggest casinos, Espinoza is one of the roughly 365,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas. Nevada overall has the highest concentration of tipped workers in the country, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
For Espinoza, inflation has turned a trip to the grocery store into a gamble.
“Half a cart, I’m spending more than $100, and I’m not getting premium stuff. I’m getting basic essentials,” he said.
That’s what made President Trump’s campaign promise to eliminate taxes on tips catch his attention. But 100 days into Mr. Trump’s second term, there’s still no legislation on the issue.
Union leaders, including the former president and current secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, are keeping score.
“What we wanna see from President Trump is real action on this issue, not promises,” said Ted Pappageorge of the Culinary Union Local 226.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News in a statement, “The president is working closely with Congress to get this done.”
And there are two bills working their way through committees. The Senate’s No Tax on Tips Act simply wipes out federal income tax on tips. The House Tips Act, from Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada, does the same and would also replace the $2.13 sub-minimum wage with the current federal minimum of $7.25.
“Tipped workers all across this country deserve a livable wage. And I believe that one job should be enough. I believe in one fair wage,” Horsford said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believes revenue from tariffs could fund the plan inside a sweeping tax package due this summer.
“If we can get some bipartisan support and the president really pushing this issue, like he promised, there’s an opportunity,” Pappageorge said.
Espinoza said not paying federal taxes on his tips would free up hundreds of dollars each month.
“I don’t know what the hold up is,” he said. “I don’t know what the politics are, but if we can cut the B.S. now and save a lot of families from tougher and tougher times, it can help out a lot of people.”
