Proposed meal tax is dead, Ensign says

"It took a lot of heavy lifting, but this tax, which would have unfairly burdened Nevada's working families and hurt our No. 1 industry, is dead," he said.

Ensign, R-Nev., said he and Congressman Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., secured an agreement to include the Worker Meals Fairness Act as part of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring Act. Under the agreement, any company with 50 percent or more of its employees eligible for free on-site meals would be exempt from the IRS tax.

The House will likely vote on the measure by the end of the week, Ensign said. It would then go to the Senate, where Ensign is confident it would pass.

If the tax had gone into effect, the IRS would have begun taxing employees on meals provided by their employers. The meals are provided to workers who do not have time to leave their job site to eat.

The tax plan was vigorously opposed by the Culinary Union, which represents most of the impacted workers.

The tax would have cost hotel, casino and restaurant workers an estimated $300 per year.

"This is going to protect their pocketbook from the IRS," Ensign said.

He said he met with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, House Ways and Means Committee Bill Archer and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to discuss the proposed meal tax.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., an original co-sponsor of the IRS Reform Bill, said killing the meal tax proposal was a team effort.

"Our House members lobbied their colleagues and Sen. Bryan and I worked the Senate conferees to educate and inform them about this ruling by the IRS. Now thanks to our united efforts, service workers and their families will no longer have to worry about this unfair tax."

Reid held a rally on the Las Vegas Strip in April warning that the bill could impact thousands of Nevada workers.

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