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Sam Brown speaks during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP) Sam Brown speaks during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP)

Sam Brown speaks during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP)

Seth A. Richardson
By Seth A. Richardson August 23, 2024

No, Jacky Rosen didn’t say ending taxes on tips would hurt Nevada families

If Your Time is short

  • Johanna Warshaw, a spokesperson for Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., was quoted in an NBC News story reacting to news of former President Donald Trump’s pledge to end taxes on tips.

  • In that article, Warshaw said Rosen supports eliminating taxes on tips but criticized the Republicans’ broader tax agenda. In a paraphrase of Warshaw’s comments, NBC said Warshaw was "casting the promise as a distraction from what the campaign characterized as a tax agenda that would hurt the working class."

  • Rosen is one of two Senate Democrats co-sponsoring a Republican bill to end federal taxes on tips.

After Nevada Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen co-sponsored a bill to end federal taxes on tips, her Republican opponent for U.S. Senate countered that Rosen’s show of support was disingenuous.

Sam Brown, a former U.S. Army captain hoping to unseat Rosen in the competitive swing state contest this November, said Rosen once described ending taxes on tips as harmful.

Rosen, he wrote in an Aug. 9 X post, "said ending taxes on tips would ‘hurt working Nevada families.’ She couldn't be any more detached."

He made similar statements during interviews Aug. 9 and Aug. 12.

Brown endorsed eliminating taxes on tips after former President Donald Trump first campaigned on the issue June 9 during a rally in Las Vegas. On Aug. 11, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris also endorsed the concept at a Las Vegas rally.

With more than 22% of Nevada’s workforce employed by the service and hospitality industry, the issue is of high interest in this battleground state. Some economists and budget experts  doubt the efficacy or plausibility of ending federal taxes on tips, but the platform has gathered a lot of support.

But did Rosen really call this tax policy potentially harmful for the state’s working families? 

We asked the Brown campaign for evidence of the claim, but received no response. Our review of Rosen’s statements found Brown’s characterization to be wrong and misleading.

An NBC News story may provide context

Three days after Trump called for the federal tip tax’s repeal, NBC News published a story that quoted Brown calling Trump a "visionary" for focusing on the issue and saying he had also planned to advocate for it.

Also in the story, Brown said Rosen was not championing the issue and Rosen’s campaign spokesperson, Johanna Warshaw, responded. NBC News paraphrased a portion of Warshaw’s comments. 

Here’s how that part of the story read (we have bolded the relevant portion):

"In states like this where we have a strong service-based economy, it makes a lot of sense," Brown said of the no-taxes-on-tips proposal. "And I wonder why Jacky Rosen hasn’t brought this up and isn’t a champion on it."  

Rosen’s campaign spokesperson Johanna Warshaw hit back at Brown, casting the promise as a distraction from what the campaign characterized as a tax agenda that would hurt the working class.

"Nevada workers know they can't trust empty talking points from self-serving politicians like Sam Brown trying to cover up their actual agenda of giving away more tax breaks to billionaires and corporate special interests," Warshaw said in a statement. "Jacky Rosen supports cutting taxes for tipped workers and all hardworking Nevadans, and that’s why she’s been fighting for years to deliver tax relief and pass a broad-based middle class tax cut while also lowering costs and raising the minimum wage."

In its full context, the "hurt the working class" paraphrase describes Rosen’s assessment of Brown’s overall tax agenda, not Rosen’s assessment of ending taxes on tips.

Rosen’s stance on ending taxes on tips

Following Trump’s Las Vegas rally, Rosen was one of the first Democratic elected officials to back ending federal taxes on tips, NBC News reported June 21.

She and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., became the lone Democratic co-sponsors of the No Taxes on Tips Act, a bill Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, proposed. 

"Nevada has a higher percentage of tipped workers than any other state, and getting rid of the federal income tax on tips would deliver immediate financial relief for service and hospitality staff across our state who are working harder than ever while getting squeezed by rising costs," Rosen said in a July 12 press release announcing she had joined the Cruz bill.

The Rosen campaign also provided a July 16 letter she wrote to the Senate Finance Committee that urged the committee and Congress to end tip taxes.

Our ruling

Brown said Rosen said a proposal to end federal taxes on tips would "hurt working Nevada families."

We found no evidence of Rosen saying that, nor Brown’s variation it would "hurt working class Nevadans." A Rosen campaign statement included in a June 12 NBC News report described Trump’s promise as "empty talking points," but Rosen also said she supports cutting taxes on tipped workers. 

Rosen publicly supported ending federal taxes on tips days later and, about a month later, signed on to Cruz’s No Taxes on Tips Act.

We rate the claim False.

Our Sources

Sam Brown, X post, Aug. 9, 2024

The Nevada Independent, "Rosen, Cortez Masto join Cruz's bill to end federal taxes on tips", July 12, 2024

CBS News, "Former President Donald Trump proposes at Nevada rally ending taxes on tips", June 10, 2024

NBC News, "Trump 'scooped' the Nevada GOP Senate nominee on proposing to get rid of taxes on tips", June 12, 2024

CNN, "Trump proposes eliminating taxes on tips at Las Vegas campaign rally", June 9, 2024

Sen. Ted Cruz press release, "Sen. Cruz’s No Tax on Tips Act Introduced in House of Representatives by Rep. Donalds", July 9, 2024

Washington Post, "Kamala Harris backs no taxes on tips in Las Vegas, echoing Trump", Aug. 11, 2024

Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Nevada Economy at a Glance", data extracted, Aug. 16, 2024, accessed Aug. 20, 2024 

Email interview with Johanna Warshaw, Jacky Rosen campaign communications director, Aug. 16, 2024

Associated Press, "Why Trump's and Harris' proposals to end federal taxes on tips would be difficult to enact", Aug. 13, 2024

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, "Donald Trump's Proposal to Exempt Tip Income from Federal Taxes", June 16, 2024

Sen. Jacky Rosen, letter to Senate Finance Committee, July 16, 2024

Sen. Jacky Rosen press release, "Rosen, Cortez Masto Join Bipartisan Legislation to Exempt Tips from Federal Income Tax", July 12, 2024

YouTube, Sean Spicer, "Trump Endorsed Candidates: Fighting for America First | Ep 256", Aug. 12, 2024

YouTube, Erick Erickson, "The Gathering", Aug. 9, 2024

Congress.gov, S.4621 - No Taxes on Tips Act, accessed Aug. 22, 2024

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No, Jacky Rosen didn’t say ending taxes on tips would hurt Nevada families

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