TIP JAR RELIEF: Las Vegas Bartender Says Trump Tax Break Is Putting ‘More Money in Our Pockets’

A Las Vegas bartender says President Donald Trump’s “No Tax on Tips” policy is already leaving her with more money to tackle household debt, putting a human face on a tax fight that has become increasingly prominent in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District.

Susan Gonzalez, a bartender at the Jackpot Bar & Grill roughly four miles from the Las Vegas Strip, told the Associated Press that she plans to use her tax savings to pay down her credit card. “There’s more money in our pockets,” Gonzalez said, crediting Trump’s policy with giving her additional breathing room after long shifts pouring drinks. 

Nevada is particularly exposed to the issue because it has the nation’s highest concentration of tipped workers, according to the AP, with bartenders, servers, casino workers and other hospitality employees forming a major piece of the state’s economy. Trump first announced the proposal during a June 2024 campaign appearance in Nevada after saying a Las Vegas worker suggested the idea to him. 

The provision ultimately became law as part of Trump’s broader 2025 tax-and-spending legislation. Rep. Susie Lee voted against final passage of that broader legislation on July 3, 2025, joining every House Democrat in opposition. The measure passed 218-214 before Trump signed it into law. 

Lee has said her opposition was directed at the overall package, but Lee also sharply criticized the broader Trump law after its passage. In a July 2025 Las Vegas Sun column, she described the legislation as providing “temporary crumbs for working families in Southern Nevada.” 

Republicans are using that language and Lee’s vote as a central line of attack in her race against GOP nominee Marty O’Donnell. 

“Crooked Susie Lee didn’t just ignore Nevada’s tipped workers. She stiffed them,” said NRCC spokesman Christian Martinez. “While her portfolio got fat on congressional stock trades, she voted against No Tax on Tips and sneered that the money those workers live on was ‘crumbs.’ Her fortune is real. Her concern for struggling families is a shameless fraud.”

The NRCC argued this week that Gonzalez’s experience demonstrates a tangible benefit from a law Lee opposed. For Gonzalez, the policy means more money stays in her pocket, and she already knows where it is going: toward paying off her credit-card balance.

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