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PENNSYLVANIA
RESTAURANT & LODGING
matters
•
Spring 2017
LEGISLATIVE
CORNER
State Items
STATE
STATE OF THE LEGISLATURE
The Senate kicked off the 2017/18
legislative session with a bang—starting
the legislative process on about every
controversial item (sanctuary cities,
paycheck protection, abortion and
of course, paid leave preemption).
Meanwhile, the House has moved more
cautiously. It will be interesting to see what
the other half of the Capitol does upon
returning to session following budget
hearings.
TOURISM FUNDING
The Governor also eliminated all non-
recurring projects and proposed
$10.1 million for the statewide promotion
of tourism. This is a significant increase
from the $3.9 million the Tourism Office
received in the 2016–2017 budget.
HOW DO WE MAKE THE MOST
OF THAT $10 MILLION?
The PRLA Lodging & Tourism Committee
took a motion to support a statewide
funding model that would capture
sales tax revenue related to tourism,
allow for inflation and dedicate revenue
over inflation to the statewide Tourism
Office. PRLA will be moving forward in
determining which Pennsylvania sales tax
codes are connected to tourism, which
percentage of that revenue is derived
from tourism, and how much that could
potentially bring to the tourism line item.
Stay tuned for more information on these
efforts in the coming weeks.
FEDERAL
LOCAL
MANDATED PAID LEAVE
PREEMPTION
The Senate Local Government
Committee voted Senate Bill
(SB) 128
(Eichelberger—R, Blair) out of committee
with a vote of 8-4. The legislation, very
simply, states that it is not the role of
Pennsylvania’s 2,500 municipalities to
mandate paid leave on businesses in
the Commonwealth and that it should
be a state discussion and decision. The
legislation was amended in committee to
declare the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
paid leave mandates illegal. We are
hopeful the full Senate will consider the bill
shortly.
PLCB OPENS SECOND DEAD
LICENSE AUCTION
The PLCB issued an invitation to bid
for 50 expired restaurant licenses
in 48 counties. The minimum bid for
each license is $25,000 and bids were
due by noon on Friday, March 3. The
winners were announced the week of
March 6. A complete list of winners can
be found at www.lcb.pa.gov/Licensing/
ResourcesForLicensees/Pages/Restaurant-
License-Auction.aspx.
MANDATORY RAMP TRAINING
As a reminder, any alcohol service
personnel a licensee hired after August 8,
2016, must complete RAMP training within
six months.
SPEAKING OF THE BUDGET
Gov. Wolf revealed his $32.3 billion
spending plan for 2017–2018. His address
contained the following key components:
• A swath of ideas to improve government
efficiency—closing a state prison, two
state facilities that provide mental health
services, merging four agencies into
one, offering early retirement to some
state employees, and selling or leasing
some state facilities and land.
• No broad-based taxes, but there are
some tax proposals:
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Assessing sales tax on custom
programming, design and data
processing, commercial storage,
aircraft sales, use and repair, and on
food and non-alcoholic beverages
purchased by airlines to be served
to passengers.
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Severance tax on natural gas.
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Eliminate the “Delaware Loophole.”
• Increase the minimum wage from $7.25/
hour to $12/hour, effective July 1, 2017.
• A modest, for him, $100 million increase
in basic education funding.
• Eliminate almost all tax credits and
consolidate them into one large block
program for which entities would have
to apply.
• Require municipalities that use the state
police for their local policing to remit a
$25/resident fee.