Tamara Chuang
Business/Technology Reporter
Quick links: No tax on tips | Minimum wage by state | Denver budget woes | 16th Street update | Colorado Springs adds chipmaker
Kinda win some, sorta lose some, but get a lot of attention while doing it may best describe 2025’s lawmaking session for the Colorado restaurant industry, or at least for the Colorado Restaurant Association.
“This was one of the most challenging legislative sessions in my decade with the CRA, but we feel that we made some good progress on behalf of the restaurant industry,” said Sonia Riggs, the organization’s president and CEO.
Years of rising food, labor and operational costs have dismayed independent restaurants, already operating on low margins. While new eateries still open regularly, the demise of some well-known Denver-area restaurants in the past year and ongoing struggles of nearly all, spurred action by the organization that represents 5,000 food businesses around the state.
Even though a bill to end credit card fees on tax and tips failed, the restaurant association was “grateful and relieved” when Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for workers to unionize under the state’s unique Labor Peace Act.
Administrative and Merchandise Manager Amanda Stamm wipes down a table Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Ratio Beerworks. (Alyte Katilius, Special to The Colorado Sun)One of the more heated bills attracted dozens of restaurant owners who showed up at the statehouse to testify in support of the so-called Restaurant Relief Act, aka House Bill 1208.
The bill proposed increasing the amount employers could offset hourly pay to tipped workers, whose own tips would cover the difference. It only applied to areas where the local wage was higher than the state’s, such as in Denver, where tipped servers make $15.78 an hour, or $4 more than the state’s tipped minimum.
Worker advocates fought back because it meant a pay cut for the lowest-paid workers. And not all restaurant owners were in support of the initial plan, including Holly Adinoff, owner and general manager of Sullivan Scrap Kitchen in Denver.
“It was heartbreaking to think that the only way that restaurants could succeed is by cutting wages 25% for people who are barely making it,” said Adinoff, also a member of the policy team at Good Business Colorado, a grassroots business organization that advocates for equitable communities. “It just doesn’t seem right to hurt the people that make our restaurant possible.”
Others, like advocates at the national One Fair Wage, wanted to eliminate the tipped credit so all workers are paid full minimum wage — and keep their tips.
After a massive overhaul, the bill passed but left the decision on whether to change the tipped credit to the local municipality. Polis hasn’t signed the bill into law yet, but Riggs called it “a big win” and said the governor is expected to sign it.
Even though no immediate relief is expected, all the attention to the plight of restaurants was appreciated by local owners, like Alec Schuler, chef-owner of the three Tangerine breakfast spots in Boulder, Lafayette and Longmont.
“I like the direction things are going. They’re trying to lower credit-card fees. They’re trying not to tax tips. There are things that are supporting restaurants that are generally better for me,” said Schuler, who supported changing tipped minimum wages even if only the Boulder location could benefit. “It’s minimal … but 80-cents an hour still adds up to a chunk of money.”
Still on the way: No tax on tips
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the No Tax on Tips Act, an issue that both presidential candidates supported during the election season.
If it becomes law as is, tipped workers — including restaurant servers, bartenders, baristas, food-delivery drivers and those at beauty salons or barber shops — won’t have to pay federal taxes on tips as they must today. The benefit, however, has limits including a deduction of up to $25,000 and only for tipped workers who earn $160,000 or less in 2025. The amount will adjust to annual inflation, according to a New York Times analysis.
A bartender prepares a drink Feb. 28 at Champagne Tiger. (Alyte Katilius, Special to The Colorado Sun)There’s a similar measure that’s part of Trump’s big budget bill that would also exempt overtime pay from federal taxes.
CRA hasn’t taken a side on the policy, but other restaurant owners say it would be helpful because it allows tipped workers to save a little bit more of their earnings.
“Any way that we can get more money into our people’s hands is great,” said Adinoff, with Sullivan Scrap Kitchen. “I’m interested to see where it goes.”
Meanwhile, worker advocates at One Fair Wage, which took a hard stance against Colorado’s tipped-wages bill, said the No Tax on Tips Act won’t help two-thirds of workers out there who don’t even earn enough to pay federal taxes. It “completely ignores the core crisis facing millions of workers in the service sector: poverty wages,” the organization said in a statement.
According to the Internal Revenue Service, individuals who earn less than $14,600 a year don’t have to pay federal income taxes. That amounts to about $7 an hour if the person works a 40-hour workweek all year.
That’s well below Colorado’s current minimum wage of $14.81 and tipped minimum wage of $11.79. But 20 states pay the federal minimum of $7.25 and a tipped minimum of $2.13 an hour. Those states haven’t raised their minimum wage since the federal government required them to in 2009.
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And there’s a big 16th Street summer kickoff that started Friday. It overlaps with the Outside Festival in Civic Center park. >> Check it out➔ Colorado Springs attracts another chipmaker. Okika Devices, which rebranded itself in January as it shifted from analog design to products, picked the Springs for its new headquarters and research and development center. Based in Carlsbad, California, Okika currently employs six people and plans to add 20 in Colorado with an average annual wage of $104,250. The company is eligible for up to $402,532 in state income tax credits from Pikes Peak Enterprise Zone.
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Or find a job with the Regional Transportation District at its job fair May 30. RTD’s Bus and Rail Career Fair, between 3 to 6 p.m. at the RTD facility on 3333 Ringsby Ct., is recruiting bus and rail operators as well as folks to fill maintenance, technical and managerial roles. (Some jobs come with a $4,000 hiring bonus.) >> RTD job fairGot some economic news or business bits Coloradans should know? Tell us: cosun.co/heyww
Have a nice Memorial Day weekend! As always, share your 2 cents on how the economy is keeping you down or helping you up at cosun.co/heyww. ~ tamara
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After a Colorado law required employers to add a retirement plan, a local chamber built its own Could an army of young conservationists fill a firefighting gap in Colorado? Colorado’s imports and exports to China continue to drop in 2025 Why rents in Denver and Colorado are dropping Trump told farmers and ranchers to “have fun” with his cuts and tariffs. They aren’t. More Colorado houses hit the market, but they’re also sitting around longer Tariffs shocked Colorado business leaders to third-worst outlook in 23 years Denver chamber winds down diversity tool that just didn’t do the jobWhat’s Working is a Colorado Sun column about surviving in today’s economy. Email tamara@coloradosun.com with stories, tips or questions. Read the archive, ask a question at cosun.co/heyww and don’t miss the next one by signing up at coloradosun.com/getww.
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