19-02-2025
Colorado Restaurant Association supports tip offset bill as Denver restaurants struggle
DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado Restaurant Association and Foundation is supporting a group promoting independent restaurants in the state, in addition to the Restaurant Relief Act, to help keep Colorado's restaurants and eateries open.
'We want our restaurants and teams to thrive, but we have to stay open for that to happen,' the association wrote in a Facebook post. 'Independent restaurants are closing every single day in Colorado. In just three years, Denver has lost 22% of its restaurants.'
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That's according to data provided by Denver's Department of Excise and Licenses. The department shared that at the end of 2021, there were 2,166 restaurants licensed in the city, and only 1,693 licensed restaurants in the city by the end of 2024.
The group provided a photo that listed dozens of restaurants that have closed between January 2024 and February 2025 throughout the Denver metro area — from Aurora to Golden and everywhere in between. The advocacy group says eight out of 10 Colorado restaurants are struggling to hire enough staff, although industry wages in Colorado have risen on average 30%.
Because of these losses, the Colorado Restaurant Association is supporting a bipartisan coalition called the Independent Restaurants for A Better Colorado, that's supporting the Restaurant Relief Act. The act, which is officially called 'Local Governments Tip Offsets for Tipped Employees.'
The measure would require local governments with a minimum wage that exceeds the state minimum wage to provide a tip offset for tipped employees that is 'equal to the tip offset amount described in the state constitution, which is $3.02,' according to the bill's summary.
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Some provisions stipulate timing on the tip offsets (requiring local governments to enact code or ordinances before Sept. 1 that would take effect by Oct. 1 imposing the tip offset for food and beverage employees), but the goal is to increase the amount paid to restaurant workers, not lower it.
The bill is scheduled to be discussed at the Colorado House Business Affairs and Labor Committee on Thursday afternoon.
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