Compliance extension and clarifications to single-use plastics
Ordinance No. 189537 – passed 6/5/2019; effective 7/5/2019
 
The City of Portland extended the compliance date for their restrictions on single-use plastics, moving the date from July 1, 2019 to October 1, 2019. They intended to give businesses more time to adjust given the impact of SB 90, which preempts local code.
 
It also clarifies that plastic utensil self-service stations for restaurants with counter service will still be allowed. There is also an exemption for plastic serviceware that is attached with a beverage container by the manufacturer (e.g. juice boxes), or when an ingredient like salad dressing is packaged with single-use plastic. All meals provided as a social service to vulnerable populations are exempt.
 
For online orders, dining establishments must coordinate with third-party ordering services to allow for the customer to request plastic serviceware. Compostable and biodegradable plastic are included in the definition of single-use plastic and are banned, but non-plastic material serviceware is allowed.
 
 
Short-term rental registration requirements
Ordinance No. 189557 – passed 6/12/2019; effective 7/12/2019
 
After stalled negotiations with Airbnb and low compliance rates for short-term rental permitting, the City of Portland is following the lead of the City of Santa Monica, CA, which recently had its ordinance affirmed by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. This ordinance states that home sharing platforms must either reach a pass-through registration data-sharing agreement with the City, or they can choose hosts from a registry of City-approved and permitted rental locations.
 
No transaction can be completed and no fees can be collected by the home sharing platform unless the short-term rental is on the City registry, or if the home sharing platform has come to an agreement with the City on pass-through registration data-sharing.
 
Home sharing platforms will be charged $1,000 per illegal booking transaction per day.

New, bipartisan legislation is being introduced in Congress to help hospitality businesses comply with the Affordable Care Act. 
 
This legislation directs the Treasury Department to implement an alternative, prospective reporting system that couples secure data collection with the efficiency employers need. The voluntary prospective reporting system created under this legislation would make important data available during the Exchange enrollment process, rather than after a coverage year has ended, and streamlines the reporting requirements for employers and insurers. Additionally, it protects the privacy of individuals’ Social Security numbers, authorizes the electronic transmission of reporting information, and establishes oversight of reporting verification. 

Both the National Restaurant Association and ORLA support legislation that streamlines employer process and provides individual consumers with much-needed safety nets, employers with relief from duplicative and confusing reporting requirements, and Exchanges with an additional tool to verify tax credit and subsidy eligibility.

Contact Greg Astley at [email protected] if you have received a “226J” letter from the IRS so he can share that information with our partners at the National Restaurant Association and help pass this important legislation.