Vice President Kamala Harris promised on Saturday to work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to restaurant workers and other service employees, echoing a pledge that her opponent in November, Donald Trump, has made, and creating a rare instance of political overlap from both sides.
Harris made the announcement at a rally on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the economy relies heavily on the hotel, restaurant and entertainment industries.
Trump vowed essentially the same thing at his own rally in the city in June — though neither he nor Harris are likely to be able to fully do that without actions from Congress.
“It is my promise to everyone here that, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America,” Harris said. “Including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.”
Trump responded on his social media site a short time later, posting that Harris “just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy.”
“The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes!,” the former president wrote. “This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me.” Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, came to Nevada as the final stop of a battleground blitz in which their party has shown new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Harris. On Sunday, the vice president is holding a San Francisco fundraiser that has already raised more than USD 12 million, her campaign said, with House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi among those set to speak.
There were 12,000-plus people inside the campus basketball arena on Saturday and, before the event started, local law enforcement opted to close the doors to the event due to people becoming ill while waiting outside to go through security in the 109-degree heat. Approximately 4,000 people were in line when the entrances were shut down.
Walz referenced that during his speech, but turned it into an applause line by adding of Nevada, “don’t worry, we’re going to be back a lot.”
As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Biden narrowly beat Republican Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada. Trump, the former president, tried to create more support in a state that relies on the service industry with his own, previous pledge to make workers’ tips tax-free. But the union representing 60,000 workers in that industry, the Culinary Workers Union, announced its endorsement of Harris. About 54 per cent of the union’s members are Latino, 55 per cent women and 60 per cent immigrants.
“The path to victory runs through Nevada,” the union said in a statement, “and the Culinary Union will deliver Nevada for President Kamala Harris and Vice President Tim Walz.”
Harris made her promise on eliminating tip taxation as part of a broader appeal to strengthen the nation’s middle class, seizing on a theme that was a centrepiece of Biden’s now-defunct reelection bid.
“We believe in a future where we lower the cost of living for America’s families so they have a chance, not just to get by, but to get ahead,” she said.
AP VoteCast found in 2020 that 14 per cent of Nevada voters were Hispanic, with Biden winning 54 per cent of their votes. His margin with Hispanic voters was slightly better nationwide, a sign that Democrats cannot take this bloc of voters for granted. “There’s an incredible energy here among the college students and community members who are coming together to support and listen to our next president, Kamala Harris,” said Imer Cespedes-Alvarado, 21.
