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.

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.

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.

Sun economy stories you may have missed

➔ Front Range cities step up opposition to $99 million Colorado River water rights purchase. Western Slope communities, led by the Colorado River District, want to buy the historic Shoshone Power Plant water rights to support their economies. >> Read story

➔ A new art center debuts in an old Denver fortune cookie factory. The privately funded Cookie Factory opens May 24 and will focus on showing new work by two contemporary artists per year >> Read story

➔ Running a food truck in Denver (and the rest of Colorado) is about to get simpler. A bill signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Jared Polis will allow food truck operators to get a single license to operate in different parts of the state >> Read story

➔ How Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” would impact Medicaid in Colorado. Work requirements could increase the number of people without health insurance in Colorado, but other provisions may not cut as deep as earlier feared >> Read story

➔ AT&T buying Lumen’s home fiber business, including Colorado market, for $5.75 billion. Coloradans may be more familiar with Lumen’s old moniker, CenturyLink. >> Read story

➔ Colorado cities sue Jared Polis, state over housing policies. A lawsuit filed Monday argues the state is violating the right of local governments to shape how they grow and develop >> Read story

How Colorado is getting older

The Colorado Sun launched a new series of stories earlier this week to take a deeper look into what it’s like to get older in Colorado. Here are the first two stories:

• Longtime neighbors growing old on the same Denver street wonder whether to stay >> Read story
• Colorado’s median age is nearing 40 — and getting older. Here’s what that looks like >> Read story
• Coming Tuesday : Reporter Jennifer Brown takes a trip to Custer County, the state’s oldest county to see how folks are aging in place

Other working bits

➔ City of Denver warns of layoffs. Mayor Mike Johnston announced Thursday that the city is expecting $50 million less in revenue this year and anticipates a $200 million deficit next year due to the nation’s economic downturn that has consumers spending less. According to a presentation, he also shared that expenses outpaced revenue since 2023. The city immediately put a freeze on hiring and will make most employees take two to seven days of furloughs this year. In a news release, city officials also warned of possible layoffs in 2026. >> See the mayor’s presentation

➔ At least Denver’s 16th Street Mall is nearly done. But its name has changed. It’s now just called 16th Street. Construction has taken more than three years and is expected to be done by the fall. Denverite reported that the branding and renaming campaign cost $100,000.

• 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.

➔ Upcoming job fair for 9-1-1 call takers. What’s it like to be the person answering 9-1-1 calls? You can now find out — and apply for a job — during the Colorado 9-1-1 Resource Center’s virtual job fair on June 3. Two sessions, one at 2 p.m. and the other at 6 p.m., will share what training it takes and stories from working emergency communication specialists. RSVP if you’re interested in attending. >> Sign up

• 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 fair

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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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The Colorado Department of Transportation said heavy traffic is anticipated along the Front Range and mountain highways, especially on westbound I-70 on Friday and Saturday, and eastbound I-70 from Eagle County to the Denver metro area on Memorial Day.