CLA participates in National Restaurant Association Public Affairs conference

This past week, I spent 2 days in Washington DC representing CLA as well as being a member of the delegation from Hospitality Minnesota joining all the other state restaurant associations and restaurant leaders (more than 570 total) at the National Restaurant Association Public Affairs conference.  This conference is held annually to raise awareness and provide education to lawmakers on issues critical to the restaurant industry.

This year’s key issues were the following:

Credit Card Competition Act – this bill aims to lower credit card swipe fees, which represent the top 3 or 4 category of expenses for most restaurants, by bringing competition to the duo-poly that is the current environment.  See National Restaurant Association link for more information:  credit-card-competition-act.pdf (restaurant.org)

Protecting the tip credit – most states provide for a tip credit on the wages that represent the difference between server minimum wage and tipped wages.  There is a federal credit, but some states are discussing eliminating the state credit in various states including Illinois. It was recently eliminated in Washington D.C. so there is concern that this could lead to more states eliminating this credit through state legislation.

FTC proposed rule on surcharges in restaurants -like large party and delivery fees as part of the “junk fees” proposed rules.  See National Restaurant Association link for more information:.  ftc-surcharge-ban-policy-brief.pdf (restaurant.org)

The conference included updates on recent trends in the industry as well as various speakers from the media and Congress who cover legislative activities.  Additionally, many of the attendees went to Capitol Hill to meet with their House and Senate representatives to educate and provide personal stories about the impact of these three key issues on their bottom line. 

More updates next month when the big Restaurant Show takes place in Chicago.  I will bring you all the highlights after the show!