Providing for Consideration of H.R. Protecting Prudent Investment of Retirement Savings Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Flexibility for Workers Education Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Tipped Employee Protection Act; and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Save Local Business Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the rule and H.R. 2312, the Tipped Employee Protection Act.

When I was a waitress in 1983, the tipped wage was exactly the same as it is now. It is $2.13 an hour. Your ability to budget, to cover rent, to buy groceries, and to pay for gas depends on how much strangers leave on the table.

What makes me angry is what little has changed since the tipped wage was frozen. Rent, food, gas, and childcare have all exploded, but tipped workers are still stuck with a base wage from decades ago. That is wrong.

However, the bigger problem is the system was never built to work. The law says that your employer has to make up the difference if your tips don't reach minimum wage, but in most States there is no real enforcement unless you catch it, document it, and risk retaliation by demanding the pay that you have earned. To put it another way, the law puts the burden of enforcement on the people with the least power.

H.R. 2312 makes this even worse. It would massively expand employers' power to treat far more workers and far more hours as tipped wages.

Oregon does this differently. Tipped workers' wages are higher. Poverty rates are lower, and the restaurant industry still thrives. For workers, that means a slow night doesn't mean that you can't pay your rent.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle rejected my amendment to ensure these workers have the bare minimum wage protections. Again, I will remind people that the minimum wage in this country has not changed in decades.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this rule. Protect workers and vote ``no'' on this bill.

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