Solutions are simple and we keep making this hard:

1. Stop raising minimum wage. It doesn't do what you think it does. And if hang around any politicians' backoffices anyway, you realize the only reason this is ever raised is to manipulate voter turnout. Not difficult, just difficult to explain since it deals with second and third order consequences.

2. Do not let employers include tips as part of meeting minimum wage law. If minimum wage is $8/hr, then employers must pay $8/hr. Wages are paid by employers. Tips are not paid by employers. Also not difficult.

3. No Taxes on tips, anywhere. These aren't wages, and are not subject to wage or payroll taxes. Also, not difficult.

And lastly, tips before services rendered are stupid. Everyone knows it and is confused by it. It's something that needs to go away, but that isn't something that should be regulated into existence.

1) (Neutral) I'd need to see more evidence of that.

2) (Unambiguously yes) If your business does not make financial sense without tips, then it isn't a business. There are many businesses that can't currently compete with businesses' that tip, see next point.

3) (Modestly disagree) I would support a 50% tax on tips in general. It should be something that only the wealthy do as a flex, not something that we are normalizing among 95% of the population.

I agree with 2 and 3. Tipping should not be a mandatory part of someone making a living.

Regarding 1: How does society guarantee a worker gets sufficient compensation for their work, and receives enough money to live in the area where they work in order to afford housing and food and healthcare?

We see trillion dollar companies paying their workers minimum wage, and scheduling workers below full time to avoid providing them benefits. We subsidize Walmart when their workers need food stamps to survive. Without a minimum wage it would be even worse.