Restaurateurs rally Congress on industry issues at Lobby Day

Nation's Restaurant News, April 29, 2002 by Paul Frumkin

WASHINGTON -- Restaurateurs and state association executives from across the country stormed Capitol Hill earlier this month, lobbying lawmakers on such key industry issues as tax, health care and immigration reform, minimum wage, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Nearly 100 attendees of the National Restaurant Association's GO-Lobby Day headed for the hill to urge U.S. congressmen and senators to support pro-industry legislation during the association's grassroots lobbying initiative here.

Before the daylong lobbying effort, NRA executives briefed participants on the issues and political climate in Washington. They also heard U.S. Representatives Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Ernie Fletcher, R-Ky.; Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.; Doug Holmes, U.S. Department of Labor; and Karl Rove, senior adviser and assistant to President George Bush.

Ted Fowler, NRA chairman and chief executive of Golden Corral Corp., told participants that the two-day event provided "an opportunity to remind Congress of the tremendous impact our industry has on the economy."

Rep. Toomey, a Pennsylvania restaurant owner who characterized himself as "a card-carrying member" of the NRA, urged restaurateurs to remain engaged in the legislative process and "help us rein in spending at the federal level.

"Standing up for fiscal discipline is a lonely endeavor in Washington," he said. "It's a tough battle to win."

Among the issues that rank high on the NRA's political agenda is the support of legislation that would make permanent the tax cuts enacted by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2001. The act includes a phaseout of the estate tax, the reduction of marginal tax rates and a doubling of the child care tax credit.

However, a provision inserted by the Senate requires that the reforms expire Dec. 31, 2010. "Congress should not be enacting tax changes that eventually 'sunsets,'" said Lee Culpepper, the NRA's senior vice president of government affairs and public policy.

Carrying a similar message from the White House, Rove told attendees that President Bush favors making the tax cuts permanent and containing federal spending.

Tax reform and the current tax code proved to be one of the key topics discussed over the two days. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, during a one-on-one meeting in his Capitol Hill offices with Craig Miller, chief executive of Furr's Restaurant Group Inc. and chairman of the NRA's government affairs committee, voiced his frustration with the issue.

"The tax policy of this country is the biggest dividing line between Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C.," Sessions declared. "Over and over again, the business owner, business capitalists and businessmen and women ... come to Washington and talk about a tax code that is confusing and punitive to a growth mentality."

Depreciation of restaurant buildings was another tax reform issue discussed at the event. While several changes addressing leased buildings had been made in the recent economic stimulus package, the NRA would like to see owner-occupied buildings covered as well. In addition, the association supports current bills in the House of Representatives that would reduce the current 39-year depreciation schedule to 15 years.

"And even 15 years is not short enough," Culpepper said.

Health care reform also was high on the agenda for lobbyists at the event, with the NRA pushing for provisions in pending legislation that would limit employer liability and allow for association health plans.

Rep. Fletcher told participants that the country is facing "a health care crisis. People are seeing a 25-percent-to- 40-percent increase in health care premiums."

However, he added that the Patient's Bill of Rights -- different versions of which have been passed in both houses -- likely would languish in the Senate. "I'm skeptical anything will be done this year on it," he said.

A number of participants also voiced concern over the threat of a federal minimum-wage hike. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., introduced a bill that would increase the minimum hourly wage to $6.75 an hour from the current $5.50. Several restaurateurs appealed to lawmakers at the meeting to fight the wage increase vigorously, but in the event that the opposition was overwhelming, they pressed to negotiate tax relief provisions into the legislation.

Toomey told the group he believed that a wage hike bill, if brought up for debate today, likely would pass in the Senate and possibly in the House. Nevertheless, he declared his opposition to the bill, stating that "if we pass a minimum-wage increase, it will kill jobs."

Culpepper said the industry has lost 110,000 jobs since August, and while restaurant sales have begun to rebound, the jobs have not. He also cautioned attendees not to "depend on the House to bail you out" on the issue.

Sen. Santorum -- who called the NRA "one of the great voices of small business" -- observed that "with the recession and unemployment going up, it's not the time for anyone to push for a minimum-wage increase."