Latest news with #MattLeber
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A pay raise for state lawmakers? Johns Island Republican defends the proposal
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – A Republican senator from Johns Island defended his support Thursday for a budget amendment that could give state legislators their first pay raise in decades. State senators voted 24-15 on Wednesday to raise lawmakers' monthly stipend for in-district expenses from $1,000 to $2,500. That money is allocated to lawmakers on top of their $10,400 annual salary and per diems for expenses like travel to Columbia, lodging, and food. Proponents argue the bump is needed to help align compensation, which has stayed the same since the mid-1990s, with inflation. 'This is one pay item we brought inline with inflation,' Sen. Matt Leber wrote in an April 24 Facebook post. 'With 3 children and a wife, I must justify continuing to take the opportunity cost if I'm going to continue serving.' Leber, who operates a home rental business with his wife, said his personal savings have dwindled by about one-third since he took office in 2023. 'My personal business has nearly collapsed since going into office,' Leber wrote. 'I haven't flipped a house in 3 years.' The first-term senator noted that more than half of his annual salary pays for his apartment in Columbia, where he spends most of the week, and he's recently needed to up personal security because of 'the positions [he] takes.' 'It's becoming evident that only the independently wealthy will soon be in these positions making all the policy for South Carolina,' Leber wrote. 'I for one would like to have more blue-collar colleagues.' Governor McMaster endorses effort to slash boat property taxes Others, however, suggested the proposal is just a way for legislators to enrich themselves at the expense of South Carolina taxpayers. 'SC gov't does not care about you,' one user wrote on X. 'They are only interested in lining their pockets any way possible.' Sen. Tom Fernandez, a Goose Creek Republican, was among senators who opposed the increase, a move he believes sends the 'wrong message while families across our state are still struggling with inflation and the cost of living.' 'Leadership should come with sacrifice, not self-reward,' he wrote in an April 23 Facebook post explaining his budget vote. South Carolina lawmakers are among the lowest paid in the nation, according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislators. Republican House leadership said they were not aware of the Senate plan and needed to discuss it with their colleagues before speaking publicly. A small conference committee of senators and House members will have to agree in about a month to keep it in the spending plan. The Associated Press contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
South Carolina Republicans propose own ‘no tax on tips' bill
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — A pair of Republican state lawmakers have proposed their own versions of a Trump-inspired measure that would eliminate taxes on tipped income. State Sen. Matt Leber (R-Charleston) and Rep. James Teeple (R-Charleston) introduced companion bills in the South Carolina legislature to exclude cash and electronic tips from state income taxes. 'We felt it was incumbent upon ourselves to consider the hospitality sector in our area, who deal with a struggling economy at times,' Leber said, pointing to the high cost of living in the Lowcountry. 'A lot of these guys do work in the hospitality sector, and if we can give them, or you know, allow them to keep more of their own hard-earned money, I think that's just a great idea,' he added. In addition to helping individuals, Teeple suggested the proposal could benefit small businesses too. 'I think that this will be a great way to help small businesses to retain staff, stay open for folks to be able to enjoy,' he said. Tipped employees in South Carolina include anyone who regularly receives more than $30 per month in tips, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. According to the University of South Carolina (UofSC), most tipped employees work in the tourism sector, including the hospitality industry, which comprises about 10% of the state's total workforce. The minimum wage for these workers is $2.13 per hour, meaning gratuity makes up a large percentage of their income. For example, a recent analysis by payment platform Square found that 25% of a South Carolina restaurant worker's income comes from tips. 'The wages that we're allowed to pay currently based on the tip credit kind of makes it so restaurant operators, bar operators, hotel operators, in any number of different industries or part of the industry, can hire quite a few employees and pay them honestly nominal wages to have them offset by consumers in tip space, explained Scott Taylor Jr., PhD, an assistant professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Senate confirms Scott Bessent as Trump's Treasury secretary Even with tips, the average worker may still make so little that they don't meet the gross income threshold required to pay income tax in the first place. That is why some economists, like those at the Tax Policy Center, argue the proposal would not actually benefit most low-income workers and could potentially lead to employers manipulating the system. Leber isn't worried about that, however. 'I would probably suggest that because employers won't have to worry about the tax accounting on tips that they may even raise that base level themselves,' he said. 'I don't think even federally or in our state tax system that there's going to be any kind of angle or sort of way to bypass what we're suggesting here.' Another concern is how eliminating tax on tips could change the tipping culture as a whole. 'As consumers, we're already bogged down with this idea of who do we tip and who don't we tip anymore,' Taylor said. 'I could make an argument as to well, they're not paying taxes anymore, so I can go back to 15, maybe 18%. I'll feel more comfortable about going to 18% instead of 20 or 25.' So, while the idea of ending taxes on tips is popular nationwide — a recent survey found that more than half of Americans said they 'strongly' or 'somewhat' support it — Scott suggests there are currently too many unknowns from accounting to regulation. 'I think there's just, there's a lot of gaps that haven't really been fully fleshed out of this,' he said, speaking as a former operator. 'I'm not running operations anymore, but my first thought was, how in the world would I do this as a manager? How am I training my people if I owned an operation, what do I need to do differently with my accounting and those things? So there's, there's a lot of other issues at play there that I don't think have really been pushed through.' 'This is a bandage on a very open wound that's been bleeding for decades,' he added, pointing to the struggle within the hospitality industry to retain workers since the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he argues there are better ways to ensure tipped workers pocket more money at the end of the day. 'We have other ways to change this,' he said. 'We could raise the tip credit. We could raise wages. We could do away with the tip credit and stop relying on consumers to basically subsidize the wages of our employees in hospitality and tourism jobs because this is really the one industry where that is the case.' Leber and Teeple's proposals mirror a campaign promise echoed repeatedly by Trump and his allies, as recently as last weekend in Las Vegas. 'We're going to get it for you — 'no tax on tips,'' Trump told the crowd during a Jan. 25 rally at Circa Resort & Casino. While congressional Republicans work on federal legislation, state lawmakers hope South Carolina can be among the first states to implement it on a smaller scale. 'We feel like we can work more quickly in the state, at the state level, with our majorities in the Senate, in the House, with a Republican governor, we can probably get this process and passed and both chambers more quickly,' Leber said. If the bill does not pass as a standalone measure, Leber said it could be included as part of the next state budget. It is part of a larger effort by state Republicans to implement widespread tax reform in the 2025 legislative session, which they say will include 'historic' income tax cuts. 'I liken it to kind of burning the candle at both ends if you will,' Teeple said. 'We're working to lower the significant tax burden for everyone across the board.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
