Restaurant Trade Group says Biden’s Build Back Better Act will hurt small businesses

The National Restaurant Association, which in the past lobbied against increases in minimum wage and paid sick leave, expressed concerns about the potential impact of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better law in a letter. in Congress published on September 29.

The letter, which was addressed to House leaders Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy and Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, said parts of the bill were too expensive for small businesses.

National Restaurant Association vice president of public affairs Sean Kennedy said investments in early childhood education, child care and public transportation were “long overdue,” but feared the cost of the bill “does not weigh down” “the troubled restaurant industry”.

This letter referred to the association’s survey conducted in September 2021 with 4,000 restaurants across the country. The association said the survey results showed they believe “a recovery from the pandemic will last until 2022”.

According to the association, due to the increase in cases of the Delta variant, “78 percent of operators report that their restaurant has experienced a decline in customer demand for the interior (dining room).” The survey also found that 91 percent of restaurants paid more for food and that 78 percent of businesses believed they were understaffed.

In the letter, Kennedy said the association believed the tax hikes proposed in the Build Back Better Act would hurt small businesses, which she said made up nine out of ten restaurants.

“It is against this bleak economic backdrop that we offer our contribution on the Build Back Better Act – in particular, our opposition to proposed restaurant tax increases, our renewed call to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and our objections to the restaurant revitalization fund. unprecedented changes to the National Labor Relations Act that could bankrupt many companies, ”Kennedy wrote.

The letter said the association opposed any cap on the Section 199A small business tax deduction, which it said would prevent businesses making more than $ 400,000 or $ 500,000 from saving money. money in taxes. He was also keen to oppose the taxation of legacy businesses and the increase in the corporate tax rate that he said would hurt restaurants’ ability to grow.

The group said they would like to see the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (FRR) replenished. On May 24, the RRF stopped accepting new candidates. According to the association, two out of three eligible restaurants that requested the RRF did not receive any money. As winter sets to curb outdoor dining, the National Restaurant Association said new RRF funds are needed to “support restaurants, workers and vendors in every state.”

“The recovery of restaurants in our country is officially reversed. The lingering effects of the Delta variant are a further drag on an industry struggling with rising costs and falling revenues,” the letter said. “We support many of the goals of the Build Back Better Act, but the legislation is too big a check and too costly for small businesses.”