And One Fair Wage unveiled new polling on Capitol Hill this week showing broad voter support for raising the federal minimum wage to at least $25/hr, underscoring how affordability and wage concerns are poised to shape the 2026 election cycle. We will dig into that as well.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Well, it’s official - the last penny has come off the assembly line and has been assigned to the dustbin of history. But what about the millions of pennies still in circulation? How should consumers and operators alike be viewing this space? Is the nickel next? We’re joined by Sean Kennedy, EVP of Public Policy for the National Restaurant Association to help us sort it out and manage the expectations of operators going forward.

And we have a special edition of the legislative scorecard with Mike Whatley of the National Restaurant Association as our guest host this week.

Local residents and small business owners have begun pushing back on the Administration’s crackdowns on major American metros. This week, restaurant owners in Chicago began posting signs announcing that ICE agents were not welcome to dine in their eateries. We discuss the pros and cons of those actions and the likelihood that the industry could once again become a political football.

And One Fair Wage has entered the political fray, officially establishing a political action committee to advance candidates endorsing high minimum wages and tip credit elimination. We’ll discuss what this means for local politics in big cities and for the industry.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

With the backdrop of the New York City mayor’s race, a great deal of attention has been paid to the rise of the socialist movement, especially with young Gen Z voters. While this group continues to take an increasingly dim view of capitalism, similar sentiments are growing on the far right as well. With both sides more open to government intervention, how strong is our continued committment to free markets?

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

The CEO of Steak & Shake personally goes after the CEO of Cracker Barrel by taking out a billboard in downtown Nashville calling for her firing. Sour grapes over a takeover bid gone awry or another effort seeking a pat on the head from the White House? Or maybe both. We’ll discuss.

And the ramifications of the Charlie Kirk situation have made their way into the restaurant world with numerous brands being pulled into the mix by employees and/or customers voicing their opinions on social media. How do brands stay out of the morass? We’ll take a look.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

The industry was active on Capitol Hill the week as industry leaders at IFA & NRA helped usher in new legislation to bring some much-needed certainty to the laws around joint employers. We are joined by our good friend Michael Layman, Chief Advocacy Officer at the International Franchise Association, to bring us up to speed on the new bill and what operators should expect going forward.

And the Governor of Texas put out an Executive Order this week laying out new regulations around the sales of hemp-based beverages. Is the industry going to get into the cvonversation on these products or let retailers and manufacturers box usa in - Again.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

McDonalds has taken their Happy Meal marbles and gone home. We do a deep dive on why McDonald’s parted ways with our industry’s premier association and assess their grievances,opine on their announcement rollout, and speculate on what it means for both them and the industry going forward.