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Coalition forms to fight Md. fast food moratorium bill
February 2, 2010
As obesity rates rise, legislators are taking various actions to address the problem, including limiting the number of quick-service restaurants. The Washington Post reports that Maryland legislators recently introduced a bill intended to impose a moratorium on issuing licenses to new QSRs in Prince George County, a move similar to one imposed in South Los Angeles in 2008.
The bill is intended to curb obesity and other health issues prevalent among residents of the Washington, D.C., suburb.
In response, the Inner-City Fast Food Coalition has been established to recruit, organize and mobilize local restaurant owners and operators. Specific goals of the coalition will be to focus on newly introduced legislation PG 415-10 sponsored by Prince George's County Delegation Sen. David Harrington.
The coalition will look to present Prince George's County residents with all the necessary information to make informed decisions regarding the pending legislation, health agency findings and nutritional information from local restaurants. The process has already begun and an all-out effort is underway to contact legislators to voice opposition to PG 415-10 as it is currently written.
While the initial push-back on the pending legislation will come from local restaurant owners and operators, coalition members will enlist the support of restaurateurs from Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Coalition organizer Aaron Manaigo, a partner at the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm Fenner, Gray & Associates, said, "This is a very serious issue for restaurant owners and operators across the country, similar legislation was recently passed in Los Angeles and has caused adverse effects there. While we clearly understand that citizen health and well being should always be taken into account, the rights of restaurant entrepreneurs operating legal enterprises should not be abrogated. Legislators should also take note that as an industry these same establishments they are looking to prohibit represent one of the state's largest employers."
A recent study by Rand Corp. has found that the moratorium on QSRs in South Los Angeles is unlikely to curb obesity rates in the area as lawmakers intended. The study found that the incidents of QSRs in the area is not higher than in other parts of the city, but it does have more small food stores or other food outlets.
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