FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 21, 2020

Contact:
Jason Brandt, President & CEO, ORLA
503.302-5060 | JBrandt@OregonRLA.org

Oregon State Legislature Passes Bill Allowing To-Go Cocktails, Commission Caps on Food Delivery
Legislation will provide relief to hard-hit restaurant industry

Today, the Oregon State Legislature passed an important bill to help Oregon’s restaurant industry survive during the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic shutdowns and the limited dining capacity associated with both.

SB 1801 passed the Oregon Senate by a vote of 21 Ayes, 3 Nays and 6 Excused absences.  Senator Elizabeth Steiner-Hayward carried the bill on the Senate side. In the Oregon House, the bill was carried by Representative Rob Nosse, passing with 50 Ayes, 4 Nays and 6 Excused Absences.
 
“We recognize To-Go Cocktails will not completely solve the crushing economic impact the pandemic, the shutdowns and the limited ability to seat customers and conduct business are having on bars and restaurants but it will help,” said Greg Astley, ORLA Director of Government Affairs.

“It will help some more than others,” Astley continued. “It may mean the difference for a restaurant being able to stay open through the hard winter months when it’s likely 29 of Oregon’s 36 counties will remain in the ‘Extreme Risk’ category, only able to offer outdoor dining in a tent with three open sides or pickup and delivery as dining options.”

The second part of the bill establishes a temporary cap on commissions paid by restaurants to third-party delivery platforms for facilitating food orders.

“With the shutdowns essentially forcing restaurants to offer take-out and delivery or close their doors and layoff employees, operators welcome this temporary economic relief,” said Astley. “During this pandemic, there have been increases in Oregon’s minimum wage, price increases on supplies including proteins, PPE and cleaning products and despite not being able to seat people inside their restaurants at times, operators still have to pay their full rent, licensing fees and permits to operate even at a diminished capacity.”

“These two acts will certainly help Oregon’s devastated restaurant industry, but we know more needs to be done,” stated Astley. “Oregon’s restaurants need additional financial relief from Congress and the State to make sure we survive.”

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The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association is the leading business association for the foodservice and lodging industry in Oregon, which is comprised of approximately 10,000 foodservice locations and 2,000 lodging establishments with a workforce prior to COVID of 183,191. 

Sustaining Operations and Avoiding Closures will Still Prove Challenging

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 21, 2020

Contact:
Jason Brandt, President and CEO, ORLA
503.302.5060 | JBrandt@OregonRLA.org

Wilsonville, OR– Today, Congress unveiled a $900 billion relief bill to provide short-term economic relief to the country in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. The plan includes several items that will benefit restaurants and lodging establishments, most importantly a second round of access to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), with unique provisions aimed to assist the restaurant and lodging industries, which continue to endure unparalleled job and revenue losses. 

In addition, the Oregon State Legislature is holding a third special session of 2020 and is poised to pass To-Go Cocktails legislation as well as statewide caps on third party technology and delivery expenses charged to restaurants.

“Hospitality operators in Oregon have been pleading for both long-term and short-term economic support,” said Jason Brandt, President & CEO for the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association. “Today’s developments will assist restaurant and lodging establishments with their quest to survive. However, it does not change the unsustainable trajectory facing thousands of Oregon small businesses who have ongoing bills for their dining rooms with little to no revenue to cover those expenses.”

Today’s developments in the Oregon Legislature are expected to assist operators in realizing additional revenue for cocktail programs accompanying food purchases for takeout and delivery while also assisting operators with cost control on expenses.

“The progress made today at both the state and federal levels feels like getting a new pair of running shoes,” said Brandt. “There is still a race for survival in conjunction with vaccine distribution and the majority of operators will remain unprofitable. Our reality remains the same – we are attempting to stretch out our cash until we actually get to the light at the end of the tunnel we’ve all been talking about.”

The federal plan announced today targets restaurant and lodging relief with provisions including:

• Enhanced PPP Loan Size: The PPP provides a business with a forgivable loan based on 2.5 times its monthly payroll costs. Restaurants and hotels, however, can seek forgivable loans based on 3.5 times monthly payroll costs. 
• Enhanced Access to PPP: Companies that employ a total of 300 or more employees at all locations (combined) are deemed ineligible for the PPP. Today’s bipartisan plan reflects the reality that many mid-sized and larger restaurant groups are on the verge of bankruptcy and allows restaurants to qualify for PPP as long as they do not employ more than 300 employees at each physical location. 
• Extending CARES Act banking relief through the end of 2021, which will enable hoteliers to seek additional forbearance from their banks on conventional loans

Other provisions in the bill that will benefit hospitality operations include the deductibility of business expenses paid with PPP loans, enhancement of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), extension of the augmented Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), and increased tax deduction for business meals.

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The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association is the leading business association for the foodservice and lodging industry in Oregon, which is comprised of over 10,220 foodservice locations and 2,000 lodging establishments with a workforce of 183,191, and a total economic impact of $13.8 billion in annual sales for Oregon.

Oregon’s Legislature will meet on Monday, December 21 for a one-day Special Session to discuss four specific issues including To-Go Cocktails and Commission Caps on Third Party Deliveries. Read the draft of Legislative Concept (LC 10).  
 
We realize this legislation won’t fix everything so we are still working with the Governor’s office, Oregon Health Authority and Legislators to find ways to re-open dining rooms sooner and safely. You can help by contacting the Governor and your Legislators (find your legislator here) to let them know how little time you have left before you have to close your doors because of the restrictions on indoor dining. 
 
Public hearings have now been posted for Thursday evening (6:00-9:00pm) and Saturday morning (10:00am-1:00pm). You may provide written or oral testimony at these meetings. For more information on these public hearings and to sign up to testify, please visit the following websites:

• Public Hearing: Thursday, December 17, 6:00pm-9:00pm
• Public Hearing: Saturday, December 19, 10:00am-1:00pm

Written Testimony: 

• E-mail: J3SS.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov
• Mail: Joint Interim Committee on the Third Special Session, 900 Court Street NE, Room 453, Salem, OR 97301
• Testimony is posted online to the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) as part of the legislative record and made publicly available here. 

Oral Testimony (Live Remotely):

• Registration is required to testify by phone or video link. To sign up, either use the online form here OR call 833-588-4500 for assistance. Registration closes at 1 PM on Thursday, December 17, 2020. 
• Public Access Kiosk: For those who do not register to testify or do not have access to testify by phone or video link, a public access kiosk is located outside of the State Capitol Building.
• Please note, testimony is generally limited to 3 minutes so if you plan to testify “in person,” please prepare your remarks in advance to make sure you are heard completely.

Important note about testimony: Neither registration nor use of the public access kiosk is a guarantee that you will be able to testify during the meeting. The chair may determine that public testimony must be limited. For this reason, written testimony is encouraged even if you plan to speak.
 
The Presiding Officers are extending the period for public comment. The public record is open when a meeting is posted until 24-hours after the committee is scheduled to meet. For example, this means written testimony can be submitted now until 6:00pm on Friday for the public hearing on Thursday.

Our Industry Needs Your Voice at the Table! 
We need your voice at the Capitol to help pass this legislation. We need you to share your story of how the shutdowns, freezes and restrictions have impacted you and your employees and why this legislation would help you survive! If you are not already signed up for ORLA’s Text Alerts, please take a minute to text “ORLA” to 52886 today and sign up for important notices regarding key legislation and how you can help.

Thank you in advance for taking action.

Financial Support in Motion for Legal Battles on Multiple Fronts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2020

Contact:
Jason Brandt, President & CEO, ORLA
503.302.5060 | JBrandt@OregonRLA.org

Wilsonville, OR – The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association has officially launched a Legal Defense Fund as authorized by the state association’s Board of Directors. The fund will be used to address multiple inequities facing Oregon’s restaurant and lodging establishments in their quest to survive the ongoing pandemic.

“Operators from all corners of the state have reached their breaking point and have asked for continued legal support to fight for their rights,” said Jason Brandt, President & CEO for the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association. “There is a growing list of inequities facing Oregon’s hospitality industry that require additional judicial oversight.”

Tens of thousands of hospitality businesses have permanently closed across the country due to government mandates including hundreds in Oregon. “Local and state government in Oregon over the past year have taken away business operations for public purposes,” said Brandt. “Small businesses across the state are owed compensation whether we’re talking about taking a dining room for virus mitigation or taking an entire lodging location for a certain duration of time.”

Operators across the state are also growing more frustrated by a lack of adjustment to taxes and fees that fail to consider the operational reality of the year 2020. Examples include exponential increases in unemployment insurance tax rates for 2021 and beyond, county health inspection fees based on the number of dining room seats in your establishment, and licenses for on-premises alcohol consumption.

“There are some local governments in Oregon deserving of recognition for the ways they have provided historic flexibility to operators,” said Brandt. “We need to build on that awareness within our government institutions to illustrate the severity of the situation. No operator should have to pay exponential increases in their unemployment insurance rates or normal costs for county health inspections or on-premises alcohol consumption licenses as if 2020 was another normal year of operation.”

ORLA’s Legal Defense Fund will provide financial support to operators interested in moving forward as plaintiffs in court. Lawsuits filed will be unique in nature and dependent on the circumstances facing operators with a focus on government restrictions causing a hospitality business location to close permanently.

“There will be those that argue these businesses would have had to close anyway due to the impacts of COVID-19 on consumer demand,” said Brandt. “We can prove that is simply not the case. Financial proof of the direct impact of government restrictions outside of consumer demand is widely available to us and will be shared with the courts as we fight for the survival of Oregon small businesses and the tens of thousands of Oregonian jobs within them.”

For more information on the efforts of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association please visit OregonRLA.org. 

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The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association is the leading business association for the foodservice and lodging industry in Oregon, which before COVID-19 provided over 180,000 paychecks to working Oregonians. Currently, approximately 55,000 of those workers, or 30%, do not have work available to return to.

New Survey Findings Reveal Dire Situation for Restaurant Operators without Federal Financial Assistance
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 7, 2020

Contact:
Greg Astley, Director of Government Affairs, ORLA
503.851.1330 | Astley@OregonRLA.org

Today, the National Restaurant Association is releasing a letter to Congress with the results of the latest survey on the economic health of the industry, and the findings are bleak:

• 110,000 restaurants nationwide are closed… 10,000 more since our last survey just a few months ago.
• 52% of former owners of shuttered restaurants say they will not return to the industry.
• 59% of owners report their costs are going up even as sales are going down.
• The average restaurant that is now permanently closed was in business for 16 years in the community.

In Oregon, the findings are as follows:

• 80% of Oregon restaurant operators say their total dollar sales volume in October was lower than it was in October 2019. 
  • Overall, sales were down 30% on average.
• 39% of Oregon operators say it is unlikely their restaurant will still be in business six months from now, if there are no additional relief packages from the federal government.
• 88% of Oregon operators say their current staffing level is lower than what it would normally be in the absence of COVID-19. 
  • 66% of restaurants are currently more than 20% below normal staffing levels.

For months, Congress has been trapped in a political tug-of-war while restaurants continue to go dark. A group of moderate Democrats and Republicans last week unveiled a compromise plan bringing both parties back to the negotiating table. They are calling for a $909 billion relief bill, including a second round of Paycheck Protection Program grants, which with improvements could provide immediate assistance to restaurants.
 
“We need Congress to pass the Blueprint for Restaurant Revival,” said Greg Astley, Director of Government Affairs for the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA). “While we are waiting for that to happen, we also need to make sure Congress at least passes some type of financial relief plan before leaving town for the year. Our industry simply cannot wait for relief any longer.”

While the recent $55 million in state funds will help the hospitality industry to some degree, it will not be enough to cover the massive losses brought about because of the pandemic and economic shutdowns.

“As costs continue to rise and revenues continue to fall for operators, and with more layoffs likely in the future, Oregon’s hospitality industry needs Congress to put aside the turf wars and come together to pass a relief package,” said Astley. “Without it, your neighbor’s job is in jeopardy and your favorite neighborhood restaurant may be the next one to forever close their doors.”

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The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association is the leading business association for the foodservice and lodging industry in Oregon, which is comprised of approximately 10,000 foodservice locations and 2,000 lodging establishments with a workforce prior to COVID of 183,191.