Following up on their pro-restaurant message shared at the mid-July Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, staff members of the National Restaurant Association are geared up to share a similar message at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this month.
A press release from the NRA in July quoted Sean Kennedy, executive vice president for Public Affairs for the National Restaurant Association, who said, “The restaurant industry is an engine of U.S. economic growth, expected to contribute $1.1T in sales to the economy – or roughly six percent of real GDP – and employ more than 15.7 million people in more than one million locations. The next few months will be pivotal to the business climate restaurant operators will be operating in for the next four years, so there is no better time to encourage support for the pro-restaurant policies essential to growth and vitality of restaurants in every community.”
Kennedy said policies and regulations topping the discussion included the Credit Card Competition Act(Opens in a new window) (CCCA), which “would open up the credit card processing market to competition outside of the two dominate credit card companies. Introducing competition will lower processing fees, introduce greater security and fraud prevention, and allow smaller companies to compete in the processing marketplace.
Kennedy said, “Two credit card companies dominate swipe fee processing, pushing costs higher and higher for restaurants. In an industry with an average three-to-five percent margin, the unexpected and constant inching up of swipe fees is unmanageable. The CCCA would empower restaurant owners to choose the most cost effective and secure network to route a credit card transaction. The impact of this would be significant – saving restaurant operators and consumers billions of dollars a year.”
The discussion also addressed he FTC proposal, Unfair or Deceptive Fees Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which the release said “seeks to eliminate all fees or surcharges(Opens in a new window), forcing restaurant operators to change menus to reflect a single ‘Total Price’ for each item.” It said, “The Commission puts the cost for doing this at more than $3.5 billion dollars for the restaurant industry, forecasting a restaurant’s menu redesign will cost almost $5,000.”
Kennedy added, “The FTC’s proposed ‘junk fees’ rule will unleash nothing but chaos and confusion for restaurant owners and diners alike. Restaurant customers understand that they will pay extra if they are having food delivered or are dining with a large party. Fees for these services aren’t ‘junk fees’ – they add a value for the customer and reflect the higher costs that a restaurant is taking on to improve the customer’s experience.”
In addition, the discussions included a look at the foodservice industry’s employment of “more than 10 precent of the U.S. workforce,” noting that “restaurants and accommodations have hundreds of thousands of jobs open each month. In order to fill these positions, the Association and its members support policies(Opens in a new window) that increase the number of people able to join the workforce.”
According to Kennedy, “The restaurant industry creates stable, career-orientated jobs every day and the people who pick these jobs are essential to the flavor and diversity that attract customers to our tables. From the immigrants bringing dishes from their cultures to the DACA recipients working their way up the management ladder, multicultural influences drive success in communities across the country. The National Restaurant Association is committed to comprehensive immigration reform and supports expanded work visa programs – like the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement – and improving legal pathways for immigration while securing safety at the border.”
Another topic addressed is that of tax issues that include “restoring deductions for accelerated depreciation and the business interest expense standard, making the 199A deduction permanent, and the No Tax on Tips Act.” The release said, “The Association is focused on tax policy that will stimulate investments and improvements in restaurants of all sizes and help operators make greater investments in their workforce and communities.
Kennedy said, “Tax policy plays a major role in the vitality of the restaurant industry. Challenging tax policy makes it more difficult to start a restaurant and to continue to improve and modernize as the business grows. Tax deductions that encourage investment and help manage capital expenditures are essential for a dynamic industry.”
Tariff reliefwas also part of the discussion. “USTR recently proposed maintaining and increasing Section 301 tariffs on China this year including on food products, kitchen and food manufacturing and preparation equipment, and plastics. Additionally, tariffs on steel and aluminum products would increase to 25 percent,” the release said. It continued, “An exclusion on 10 seafood lines expired earlier this summer, extending a 25 percent tariff on these items.”
Kennedy said, “The 301 tariffs on consumer goods and business equipment stifle restaurant growth and are ultimately harmful to U.S. businesses and consumers. We’ve pushed for relief from these tariffs for more than five years at the same time we’ve been trying to manage climbing costs for needed supplies and keep consumer prices in check.”
Learn more about the industry’s policy priorities at RestaurantsAct.com(Opens in a new window).
