WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) sent a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta urging him to release a previously undisclosed DOL cost-benefit analysis on a proposed regulation that would allow employers to create tip pools at restaurants and other establishments that have a mix of tipped and non-tipped workers. The letter also requests that the Department reopen a comment period for a minimum of 15 days following release of the study.

“While I understand that the Department may have reservations about its ability to project the rule’s effect on employers’ behavior, these reservations should not be grounds for leaving out an estimate entirely,” Senator King wrote. “The rulemaking process will be insufficiently transparent if the Department waits until after the end of the comment period to publish an analysis. The public deserves the opportunity to draft comments with a projection in hand, rather than being forced to fly blind on a rule with potentially wide-reaching effects on tipped workers’ income. The Department should publish its completed cost-benefit analysis in the proposed rule’s public record and subsequently re-open the comment period so that the public can offer feedback on the basis of this new information.”

Last week, it was reported that the DOL withheld an internal study showing that its December tip regulations proposal could cause tipped employees across the country to lose out on billions of dollars in tips. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that tipped workers in Maine could lose around $31.7 million per year. Senator King’s letter follows an announcement this week that the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General has launched an investigation to review the issue.

Senator King’s letter is below and can be read in full HERE.

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Dear Secretary Acosta:

I write today to express concern regarding the Department’s reported omission of a completed quantitative analysis from the tip pooling proposed rule (RIN 1235-AA21). Given that the Office of Management and Budget has determined that this proposed rule is economically “significant” under Executive Order 12866, it is particularly important that the public be given as clear a picture as possible of the rule’s potential impacts on workers and employers. I respectfully urge you to re-open the public comment period on this proposed rule for at least 15 days after such date that the Department publishes a full quantitative cost-benefit analysis in the record.

While I understand that the Department may have reservations about its ability to project the rule’s effect on employers’ behavior, these reservations should not be grounds for leaving out an estimate entirely. The rulemaking process will be insufficiently transparent if the Department waits until after the end of the comment period to publish an analysis. The public deserves the opportunity to draft comments with a projection in hand, rather than being forced to fly blind on a rule with potentially wide-reaching effects on tipped workers’ income. The Department should publish its completed cost-benefit analysis in the proposed rule’s public record and subsequently re-open the comment period so that the public can offer feedback on the basis of this new information.

I would appreciate your consideration of this request, so that the public can fully evaluate the projected impact of this proposed rule. Should you have any questions about this specific request, or if you would like to discuss the broader issue of promoting the growth and security of Americans’ wages, please direct your staff to contact Will Woodworth in my office at 202-224-5344.

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