Plus, we get smarter on "AI slop" and do the numbers on workplace protections for pregnant workers.

“We are going to not charge taxes on tips,” former President Donald Trump said last week, proposing a novel change to the tax code as he courted voters in the service industry. If tips were exempt from federal income tax, workers would theoretically get to keep more of their wages. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee also proposed eliminating payroll taxes on tips, so employers could benefit too.

Republican lawmakers have already turned the idea into legislation. Trump will need help from Congress to deliver on his campaign trail promise. Reps. Matt Gaetz from Florida and Thomas Massie from Kentucky unveiled a bill Tuesday that would make tax-free tips a reality, but not all Republicans are on board.

Even if the GOP was all on the same page and won the White House and retook the Senate in November, Democrats are likely to hold more than 40 Senate seats, which means they could deploy the filibuster to hamper the Republican agenda.

Experts are skeptical about tax-free tips. Such a policy would create a two-tiered labor market, economists argue, where two workers making the same gross salary would have very different federal tax obligations. That could hurt certain employers’ ability to recruit new hires, or lead more industries to adopt tipping to lower labor costs. And you thought “tipflation” was bad now?
Then there’s the national debt. The Congressional Budget Office just revised its 10-year forecast way up to $50.7 trillion, and the nonpartisan nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates tax-free tips would cost the government another $150 billion to $250 billion over that same period.

Smart in a shot

“We are going to not charge taxes on tips,” former President Donald Trump said last week, proposing a novel change to the tax code as he courted voters in the service industry. If tips were exempt from federal income tax, workers would theoretically get to keep more of their wages. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee also proposed eliminating payroll taxes on tips, so employers could benefit too.

Republican lawmakers have already turned the idea into legislation. Trump will need help from Congress to deliver on his campaign trail promise. Reps. Matt Gaetz from Florida and Thomas Massie from Kentucky unveiled a bill Tuesday that would make tax-free tips a reality, but not all Republicans are on board.

Even if the GOP was all on the same page and won the White House and retook the Senate in November, Democrats are likely to hold more than 40 Senate seats, which means they could deploy the filibuster to hamper the Republican agenda.

Experts are skeptical about tax-free tips. Such a policy would create a two-tiered labor market, economists argue, where two workers making the same gross salary would have very different federal tax obligations. That could hurt certain employers’ ability to recruit new hires, or lead more industries to adopt tipping to lower labor costs. And you thought “tipflation” was bad now?Then there’s the national debt. The Congressional Budget Office just revised its 10-year forecast way up to $50.7 trillion, and the nonpartisan nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates tax-free tips would cost the government another $150 billion to $250 billion over that same period.

The numbers

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a law that grants pregnant people protections on the job, finally has teeth. Let’s do the numbers.

1978

Discrimination against pregnant workers has been illegal since the Pregnancy Discrimination Act became law in 1978. That law meant employers couldn’t fire employees just because they were pregnant. But they didn’t have to provide any  accommodations for pregnant workers until Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in 2022. 

15

The law took effect last year. It requires companies with more than 15 employees to grant reasonable accommodations to workers impacted by pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. 

Final rules from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission went into effect this week, with more specific examples of the types of medical conditions coveredand the types of accommodations employers should grant, including time off.

2

Part of the new regulations tied to abortion are on pause in two states. A federal judge temporarily halted the EEOC’s ability to take action on complaints tied to abortion in Louisiana and Mississippi, while their legal challenge is heard in court. In their lawsuit, the Southern states argue the EEOC overstepped its authority by ordering accommodations for workers getting an elective abortion. A federal judge in Arkansas dismissed a similar case last week brought by 17 states challenging final rules.

The EEOC clarified in its final regulations that the law doesn’t require employers to pay for an elective abortion, only that they cannot discriminate against employees who choose to get one.

500

Nearly 500 pregnant workers called a legal helpline after their employers refused to grant them accommodations. Most of them were low-wage workers.

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“A model of effective brand integration”

The state of Wisconsin paid to host the 21st season of “Top Chef,” and it’s not alone. Several states have used taxpayer dollars to do so in previous seasons. Editor Stephanie Siek is reading an article from Reality Blurred about what Wisconsin got for its $1.3 million.

How your business can avoid the dark side 

The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser immersive hotel was a $500 million flop for Disney, and you don’t have to watch that viral four-hour YouTube video to know why. Producer Alice Wilder got the highlights from a rawsignalgroup newsletter, which outlines what other businesses can learn from the failed dinner-theater-on-steroids.

Nudges and streaks

One Duolingo user has a record 4,100-day streak on the language learning app. Producer Rosie Hughes recommends a Wall Street Journal story about how Duolingo has mastered the push notification, using a “bandit algorithm” to maximize engagement.