LAS VEGAS, NV – As President Donald Trump travels to Red Rock Casino in Summerlin on Wednesday to promote the so-called “Working Families Tax Cut Act,” Nevadans are being urged to look past the rhetoric and examine who the administration’s economic agenda serves.
This marks Trump’s second Las Vegas appearance this year, promoting the no-tax-on-tips, no-tax-on-overtime, and no-tax-on-social-security provisions in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a message tailored to a state with roughly 165,000 tipped workers, among the highest concentrations in the country.
Governor Joe Lombardo, one of Trump’s closest political allies in the state, has yet to say a word about how this affects Nevada’s economy. Nevadans deserve honesty about what’s actually going on in the administration’s agenda, and deserve leaders in November who will fight for working families, not just talk about them to gain political points.
Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union, issued the following statement:
“Nevada is in the Trump Slump. Trump’s tariffs, chaotic immigration and mass deportation policy, the war in Iran, and high grocery and gas prices are hurting working families and driving away the Canadian, Mexican, Southern California, and international tourism Nevada depends on. Trump is coming to Las Vegas to highlight No Tax on Tips, but his short-sighted plan includes a marriage penalty, leaves out banquet and restaurant workers who get tips through service charges/buyouts, penalizes immigrant workers, and is temporary – set to sunset when he leaves office. As tourism continues to decline under Trump’s policies, many hospitality workers already don’t make enough in tips to tax in the first place. Governor Lombardo has done nothing to protect workers from the Trump Slump. Lombardo has vetoed bill after bill that would have helped workers and renters, including paid family leave, expanded sick leave, wage theft penalties, and tenant protections, while his Gaming Control Board appointee recommended approval of new Station Casinos licenses despite the company’s record of labor violations. As Lombardo runs for re-election in a state built and run by unionized hospitality workers, Culinary Union is demanding to know why the governor stands with Station Casinos and Trump’s harmful economic agenda instead of fighting and delivering for the working people who power Nevada’s economy.”
Tom Lenard, State Director of Climate Power, issued the following statement:
“The bills are too damn high, and Trump’s agenda has only made life more expensive for working people. Instead of standing up for Nevada families, Governor Joe Lombardo has stood by Trump and backed his agenda, cheerleading for Trump as working Nevadans struggle with rising costs. While Trump comes to Las Vegas to take credit and Lombardo refuses to speak out, Nevada families are paying the price through higher costs, growing economic uncertainty, and threats to the good-paying clean energy jobs that are helping build our state’s future.”
Blanca Macias, Executive Director of Make the Road Action Nevada, issued the following statement:
“Donald Trump is coming to Nevada to sell one half of a law and hoping nobody reads the other half. The tip break he brags about runs out in 2028. The health care cuts in that same bill don’t. One in four Nevadans is on Medicaid, about 800,000 people, and roughly a hundred thousand of them stand to lose coverage. Seniors who paid into Medicare their whole working lives are going to be told they don’t qualify anymore. When that many Nevadans lose healthcare, everyone in this state waits longer to see a doctor. Governor Joe Lombardo hasn’t said one word about any of it. He’ll smile for the cameras and hide behind Donald Trump instead of answering for his own silence. If a policy takes this many trips to sell, the problem isn’t that Nevadans misunderstood it.”
William Moore, Civic Engagement Director at Mi Familia Vota Nevada, issued the following statement:
“We don’t need an expensive and wasteful political spectacle from Trump in Las Vegas. His priorities are completely out of line with the needs of everyday Nevadans. Our community is tired of the political spectacle from Gov. Lombardo and MAGA loyalists. They need leaders focused on the struggles families face every single day, such as paying the rent, putting groceries on the table, affording healthcare, finding quality, affordable child care, and securing a positive future for all of us, rather than filling the pockets of the billionaire elite. Remember, Trump still owes Nevada families $2.1 billion in refunds for his unconstitutional tariffs. That’s where the conversation should be.”
Kristee Watson, Executive Director of Nevada Conservation League, issued the following statement:
“While the President sells tax cuts on tips and overtime, Nevada families are watching their energy bills climb, driven in part by land once promised for solar power that would lower our bills now discreetly redirected toward data centers that will raise costs and rely on water we simply do not have. That’s the same pattern we keep seeing from this administration: a headline about relief in one hand, while public resources that belong to Nevadans get handed over in the other. Cutting Medicaid and SNAP while our water and power go toward projects that don’t serve Nevadans is a deliberate choice. We deserve leaders who will fight for affordable energy and protect our public land, not just show up for a photo op.”
Sue Burtch, Executive Director of the Nevada Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), issued the following statement:
“The Trump-Lombardo economy is devastating Nevada families who are struggling to afford basic necessities like housing, healthcare, childcare, gasoline and groceries. Bragging about a policy that gave the largest tax break in history to wealthy individuals by cutting critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP is the sign of a true despotic leader. Desperate to gain support for an unpopular agenda, Trump thinks he can fool Nevadans with promises of economic relief from the one big ugly bill. He is wrong. Women and families across our state know that his policies, from tariffs to the war on Iran, fail them by raising costs every single day. Governor Lombardo is complicit in this harmful agenda as he refuses to stand up to his ‘commander.’ Nevadans want a leader who will stand up to Trump’s reckless agenda and fight for them, not donors, consultants, or monied interests.”
Denise Lopez, Reproductive Freedom for All Director of Nevada Campaigns, issued the following statement:
“As families across Nevada struggle with rising costs for groceries, housing, and healthcare, Republicans continue to push a national agenda that puts reproductive freedom and abortion care at risk. In 2024, Nevada voters took a decisive first step toward protecting abortion rights in our state constitution—and in 2026, we’ll finish the job. Nevadans have made it clear that anyone who threatens our freedoms—including Trump and Governor Lombardo—will have to answer to voters in November.”
Shelbie Swartz, Executive Director of Battle Born Progress, issued the following statement:
“Campaign rallies are easy. Governing is harder. Another Trump visit is the last thing Las Vegas needs amid rising costs due to his mismanagement of the federal government and the foreign policy quagmire he has created. Nevadans are struggling to afford gas, groceries, healthcare, childcare, and housing. Touting a bill that gave substantial tax breaks to wealthy people while cutting critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP is a shameful example of Trump’s willingness to manipulate his base. Nevadans aren’t buying what he’s selling. We know better. Despite rising costs all around us, Governor Lombardo has maintained a close relationship with Trump and has referred to Trump as his ‘commander.’ The Trump-Lombardo economy is not working for the majority by any measure. Nevadans need a leader who will be a bulwark against the President’s reckless agenda, which is driving up costs with no solutions in sight.”
ABOUT NO TAX ON TIPS & OVERTIME: The numbers tell a different story. The Tax Policy Center finds that only about 9% of households see any benefit from the overtime deduction, with more than 99% of households earning under $35,000 gaining nothing from the tips and overtime deductions combined. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes these are deductions, not credits, so workers who already earn too little to owe federal income tax, over a third of tipped workers nationally, see nothing, while higher earners gain the most. Tips and overtime still face federal payroll taxes despite the “no tax” branding and the same law cutting health care, energy, and food assistance programs many Nevada families rely on.
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