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Dec24.indd 1 STATESIDE Promises promises
The second Trump era begins on January 20, but a transition has already begun as a new governing philosophy takes hold. Sharon Harris looks at how this will affect gaming in the States.
candidates, the soul-searching from Harris’s campaign began immediately. She never held one formal press conference and only selectively did interviews to “introduce” herself, despite being Vice-President since 2021.
The Democrats raised $1 billion and are now $20 million in debt. Shock waves persist about her campaign’s flagrant spending on celebrities, galas and $1 million spent on an exterior Sphere photo display as Harris campaigned in Las Vegas multiple times. Staff has been laid off and they need public donations to pay off their obligations. The second Trump era begins on January 20, but a transition has already begun as a new governing philosophy takes hold. How will that impact gaming?
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hankfully, the U.S. elections are over. Everyone I know hated the nonstop ads, bickering and dishonest journalism. Overpaid “experts” and pollsters clearly “read the room” wrong, predicting a neck-and- neck race between Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. The American presidential system dates back to the late 1700s. The Founding Fathers established a proportional “Electoral College” formula to ensure fairness between larger and smaller, rural states. Population determines each state’s number of electoral votes.
The Electoral College winner must receive 12 DECEMBER 2024
at least 270 votes, but has sometimes lost the popular vote. In last month’s decisive election, Donald Trump won 312 electoral votes to Kamala Harris’s 226. Trump also won the popular vote with about 76 million. Nevada was a “battleground” state, meaning it historically switches between Democrats and Republicans. Other battleground states, all with commercial or tribal casinos, included Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and North Carolina. Georgia was the only battleground without a gaming property. Trump won all seven.
Regardless of feelings about the
Changes will take time since a new Congress and Cabinet overseeing the federal departments take office in January. Here are some of the Trump team’s promises: No taxes on tips and overtime: This was a huge pledge to hourly workers, especially in hospitality fields. Casino employees nationwide regularly depend on tips and accumulating overtime, or holiday bonus pay. The extra money mitigates the ever- present inflation. More details should be forthcoming.
No taxes on Social Security benefits: Seniors, at least 62 or older, could continue working for years without worrying that tax obligations would include Social Security income benefits.
Casino workers will have more options to decide when to begin receiving benefits. The longer people wait, the more money they ultimately will enjoy each month. Financial tables help to analyse the cost benefits of waiting longer against the life expectancy to at least “break even” from what an employee has paid in over a lifetime of working.
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