PR&LA Summer 2018

Summer 2018 • PENNSYLVANIA RESTAURANT & LODGING matters •  19 Primary election results | Budget predictions | Price gouging Preemption of food and drink taxes | Online home sharing bill on the move Restaurant license auction | Online travel company loophole Federal tax reform hiccup | Federal menu labeling took effect! Philadelphia—beverage tax | Pittsburgh—paid leave Philadelphia—sodium warning label | Philadelphia—predictive scheduling Federal Items FEDERAL TAX REFORM HICCUP Congress will need to do a “clean-up” bill to amend the Tax Cuts and Job Act due to hiccups that commonly arise after the passage of such broad legislation. One of the biggest issues is that the bill changed the 15 year- depreciation schedule to 39 years. It is expected to be fixed in the clean-up bill. FEDERAL MENU LABELING TOOK EFFECT! On May 7, federal menu-labeling officially took effect. The law requires restaurants that have 20 or more locations to post calorie counts on the food they sell. In addition, those restaurants must have the full nutritional information of items on the menu available upon request. This law ensures that all restaurants in the country are providing the same nutritional information, as opposed to the potential patchwork of various menu labeling laws that would have taken effect without a national model. Local Items PHILADELPHIA—BEVERAGE TAX The State Supreme Court heard oral arguments May 15 on the legality of Philadelphia’s beverage tax. There is no set timeline as to when they will rule. PITTSBURGH—PAID LEAVE PRLA filed our response to the City of Pittsburgh and SEIU’s appeal to the Supreme Court on the paid leave mandate in Pittsburgh. We expect oral argument to be scheduled in October. PHILADELPHIA—SODIUM WARNING LABEL Philadelphia City Council has passed Bill # 180001, which would require a sodium warning to be placed on the menus of chain restaurants for items that exceed 2,300 milligrams of sodium per serving. PRLA worked closely with the prime sponsor of the bill, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, and was successful in having a number of amendments made to the bill to make it easier for restaurants to comply. Restaurants will have one year to comply with the law. PHILADELPHIA—PREDICTIVE SCHEDULING PRLA and members of the association participated in a roundtable with the labor community to discuss the need for predictive scheduling (in the eyes of the labor community) and the impact of predictive scheduling (from the business perspective). The roundtables went well and had lively dialogue. We hope to continue these conversations moving forward as Councilwoman Helen Gym considers potential legislation. •