The existing Nevada Revised Statute reads:

NRS 608.160 Taking or making deduction on account of tips or gratuities unlawful; employees may divide tips or gratuities among themselves.

1. It is unlawful for any person to:
(a) Take all or part of any tips or gratuities bestowed upon his employees.
(b) Apply as a credit toward the payment of the statutory minimum hourly wage established by any law of this State any tips or gratuities bestowed upon his employees.

2. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prevent such employees from entering into an agreement to divide such tips or gratuities among themselves.

[1:17:1939; 1931 NCL § 2826] + [2:17:1939; 1931 NCL § 2827]—(NRS A 1967, 623; 1971, 1263; 1973, 644)

There is a tradition in Nevada whereby a dealer, waitress, or any other tip-earner is rewarded by a grateful patron in a singular manner.. A number of tip-earners have honed their abilities to please the customer to the point that they have been able to provide themselves a very good living.

Now it appears that the law is not being applied in the above stated manner. A certain Nevada Corporation believes that, regardless of the source of the tip, the monies belong to the corporation, and therefore those tips have been confiscated, in spite of Nevada law. The Labor Commission has stated that there was no confiscation because the tips were not kept. The law, as written, is quite clear. Taking is taking. And because the company has benefited both directly and indirectly, the law has been broken, not simply bent.

Ladies and gentlemen, no citizen is above the law, regardless of the political clout he or she may wield. Whether it is the lowliest busboy or the wealthiest casino owner, the law applies equally to us all. We cannot rewrite it on a whim to suit our personal desires, nor should we allow officials to act in proxy to do so.

Any Nevada regulation, however it is written, is not law and must rely upon the Nevada Revised Statutes as its basis for existence. Therefore if a regulation attempts to amend existing law in order to allow the violation of that law, that regulation must be suspect, and those who wrote it doubly so.

I urge you to consider carefully what you do here today. What happens in Las Vegas does not always stay in Las Vegas. This issue is under the microscope of media attention. Right now you have an opportunity to show yourselves as champions of justice. The tip-earners deserve your protection. These men and women are part and parcel of the Nevadan personality and they have earned our respect.

Thank you.

Bob Beers
Assemblyman District 21