PRLA Spring 2019

Spring 2019 • PENNSYLVANIA RESTAURANT & LODGING matters •  21 Budget address | Tourism line item | Governor’s minimum wage proposal Labor preemption | Department of Revenue Act 109 guidance | REAL IDs Philadelphia—predictive scheduling | Philadelphia—pharma bill Philadelphia—cashless ban | Pittsburgh—mandated paid sick leave Local Items PHILADELPHIA—PREDICTIVE SCHEDULING Philadelphia City Council voted 14-3 to pass predictive scheduling legislation. The bill impacts businesses with 30 or more locations worldwide and 250 employees. The legislation will take effect January 1, 2020. In the meantime, PRLA will continue to advocate for common-sense amendments to ensure a win-win for employees and employers alike. PHILADELPHIA—PHARMA BILL Legislation in Philadelphia that would have banned the spending on food and drink by pharmaceutical companies in Philadelphia failed in City Council by a vote of 9-5, with two members abstaining and one member absent. PRLA wants to thank all of our members in Philadelphia who reached out to Council about the impact this bill would have had on their businesses. That grassroots effort really secured the votes we needed to defeat this proposal. PHILADELPHIA—CASHLESS BAN Mayor Kenney did sign Bill #180943, which would ban cashless stores in the City of Philadelphia. While there were a few exceptions outlined in the bill, brick and mortar establishments will be required to accept cash for purchases. The legislation takes effect July 1, 2019, and violations can come with a fine of up to $2,000. PITTSBURGH—MANDATED PAID SICK LEAVE The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments on our Pittsburgh paid leave lawsuit, which PRLA believes is in violation of their Home Rule Charter. There is not a timeline on when the Court must rule, so it could take up to a year. • Federal Items FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE Now that they have control of the U.S. House, Democrats have introduced legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 over six years, index it to inflation, and eliminate the tipped wage entirely. There could be enough votes to get it through the House but it is unlikely the Senate will support the measure and a certainty that the President would veto it if it reaches his desk. FEDERAL DOL OVERTIME RULE The federal Department of Labor continues to move forward with updating the federal regulations as it pertains to the “overtime rule.” The original rule change, proposed by the Obama Administration, would have increased the minimum salary for exempt employees from $24,000 to $47,000 and was struck down by the Courts. The new rule, which has been submitted to the White House for review, is expected to increase the cap from $24,000 to $35,000 for exempt employees. FEDERAL—H-2B VISAS A provision was included in the recently passed federal funding measure that allows the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security to increase the number of H-2B visas to about double the current annual cap of 66,000. Federal minimum wage | Federal DOL overtime rule | Federal—H-2B visas LABOR PREEMPTION Rep. Seth Grove (R, York) has reintroduced his legislation that would preempt local municipalities from passing labor mandates on business. HB 331 is expected to be considered by the House Labor & Industry Committee in the coming months. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE ACT 109 GUIDANCE The Department of Revenue has updated its Act 109 guidance to allow for “dual remittance” of the state occupancy tax under the Act. With this updated guidance, in-state hotels can continue to remit state and local occupancy tax the exact same way they always have. REAL IDS On March 1, PennDOT started issuing REAL IDs. The PLCB has created a webpage (http:// bit.ly/PLCBREALIDs ) to review details of the new ID.