By Kathy Kennedy
State Rep., R-119
Kathy Kennedy
In towns like Milford and Orange, hard work isn’t just a slogan – it’s a way of life. From the early-morning diner shifts at Pop’s or Chip’s to late-night Milford Hospital rounds, from construction sites to busy restaurant floors, our neighbors put in the hours to provide for their families.
That’s why a proposal before the Connecticut General Assembly to exempt declared tips and overtime pay from the state income tax simply makes sense.
Talk to any server working the lunch rush in Milford or any electrician picking up extra overtime to finish a job on time, and you’ll hear the same thing: every dollar counts and matters.
Tips aren’t “extra.” They’re grocery money. They’re the gas bill. They’re what helps cover school clothes or an unexpected car repair. Overtime isn’t a luxury; sometimes it’s necessary. It’s time away from family dinners, Little League games or just extra sleep.
Right now, when someone in Milford stays late to plow roads during a snowstorm or a nurse in Orange works an extra shift to cover for a colleague, the state takes a share of that additional pay. That just doesn’t sit right with a lot of folks. If you’re willing to put in the extra effort, take on the extra hours and serve your community, you ought to be able to keep more of what you earn.
Exempting declared tips and overtime from the income tax is a straightforward way to help the working men and women who keep our local economy running. It doesn’t create a new government program. It doesn’t require pages of paperwork. It simply lets people hold onto more of their own hard-earned money.
Let’s be honest: that money won’t sit in a savings account somewhere. It will be spent right here in our local communities. It will be used at the local hardware store, the family-owned restaurant or the small businesses that line our main streets. When workers have a little more breathing room in their budgets, our whole community benefits.
Giving tax relief to people who are clocking in overtime or earning tips through good service isn’t reckless – it’s responsible. It shows that we respect work and the people who do it.
In Milford and Orange, we believe in earning your way. We believe that if you’re willing to work harder, you should be rewarded for it, not taxed more heavily because of it. This proposal is about fairness, common sense and standing up for the people who punch the clock every day. That’s something worth fighting for.