WASHINGTON D.C. — The National Restaurant Association commended U.S. Senators for including tax relief for restaurants in minimum wage legislation passed Feb. 1.
Opposed to the inevitable wage hike, the NRA lobbied legislators to include provisions that would provide assistance to the nation's restaurateurs. (Read also, Minimum wage, maximum impact.)
The bill, the Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007, passed by a vote of 94 to 3, includes several beneficial provisions for small businesses, including restaurants. Among them are $1.7 billion for a 15-year restaurant depreciation schedule (including new construction, leaseholds and improvements); a five-year extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC); and a one-year extension through 2010 for Sec. 179 small business expensing.
"While no package can completely mitigate the impact of a minimum wage increase, we commend the Senators for recognizing the importance of granting small businesses the necessary resources to partially offset the consequences," said outgoing NRA president and chief executive, Steven Anderson.
In nationwide surveys conducted in October 2006, restaurant operators said that if the federal minimum wage were increased from $5.15 to $7.25 over the course of 30 months, they would take a number of actions:
- Ninety-eight percent of quick-service operators said they would increase menu prices, compared to about three out of four family-dining and casual-dining operators.
- In addition to job losses, roughly 50 percent said they would cut employee hours worked.
- Approximately 25 percent said they would postpone new hiring.
- Approximately 30 percent of operators said they would cut employee benefits.
"We look forward to working with the House and Senate to ensure that restaurant-specific provisions remain intact, enabling restaurants and other businesses to continue effectively planning for the recruitment and training of employees, despite an increase in the minimum wage," said Anderson.
