Its popularity also likely reflects status-quo bias. The impetus for the policy is that tipped workers were once able to systematically underreport their incomes: Since their tips were mostly in cash, they were invisible to the IRS. As credit cards and payment apps displaced greenbacks, waitstaff, housekeepers, and other tipped workers lost the ability to cheat on their taxes, which abruptly increased their effective tax rates. This led unions like the Culinary Workers Union to mobilize for relief.