This week, the nation’s mayors sat down with the restaurant industry to discuss ways in which mayors and their cities can help restaurants and their employees survive the pandemic and its aftermath. Sean Kennedy, the Executive Vice President for Public Affairs for the National Restaurant Association, who oversaw that meeting, stops by the pod to tell us what happened, what we learned, and how we can keep the conversation going. And as states and cities face unprecedented budget deficits as a result of the pandemic, they will be looking for revenue anywhere they can find it. We sit down with the tax experts from MultiState to understand what may be coming down the pike in 2021 and how operators should prepare. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Yelp is in the news this week as the crowd-sourced restaurant review platform announced it will include accusations of discrimination or alleged instances of racism by a brand in their restaurant listings. We’ll discuss this potentially seismic development and the boon it could be for anti-industry activists and detractors. And the private sector continues to advance the portable benefits issue down the field. We’ll take a look at Mastercard’s benefit initiative for independent contractors and the impact it may have on the employee marketplace. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Restaurant relief appears to be dead for now. This week, the President abruptly cancelled negotiations on a stimulus package that included many industry priorities leaving thousands of restaurant operators and other small business owners to fend for themselves. And the associations that represent them in Washington, DC were not shy about showing their displeasure. We’ll discuss the bleak situation restaurants find themselves in both economically and politically. And the 2020 election is just three weeks away and we’ll do a deep dive into the Presidential race, the race for control of the senate, and what is happening at the state level across the country - especially with an eye toward the 2021 state legislative agendas. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

The U.S. House passed their long-awaited relief bill this week and while it is unlikely to pass the Senate in its current form, it is noteworthy because Democratic leaders championed and included many of the Independent Restaurant Coalition’s priorities while chains and franchisees were deliberately left out in the cold. Is there a political divide developing in the industry that may reshape our traditional approach to advocacy? We’ll discuss that and the ramifications for operators. And while the Trump Administration has suspended many Obama-era regulations regarding corporate diversity numbers and corresponding pay equity, more and more companies are disclosing that data voluntarily. We'll take a look at those trendlines and where that conversation may be heading. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Important players in the conservative intelligentia are calling for a new approach and relationship to the labor community and making the conservative case for not necessarily traditional unions but worker empowerment. We will sit down with Eli Lehrer, President of R Street Institute and discuss his recent joint statement in the American Compass calling for a new paradigm in labor relations. And Democrats in Congress, along with some independent restaurant owners, are calling for the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on third-party delivery platforms and the “harmful impacts” they are having on the industry. We discuss what’s happening there. And over the last few years, the #MeToo movement has provided a legislative and political roadmap for the Black Lives Matter movement that will likely come to fruition in 2021. We’ll discuss how that may play out and how the industry needs to prepare. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We interview Sean Kennedy, Executive Vice President for Public Affairs at the National Restaurant Association and get his perspective on the likelihood that Congress will come to the aid of the industry anytime soon. He’ll let us know where things stand in Washington and how the industry is working to support operators. We’ll also discuss the recent CDC report and how both operators and corporate leaders need to be careful on how and what we say regarding those findings. Additionally, our old friend Matt Haller from the International Franchise Association stops by the pod and brings us up to speed on all things joint employer, including the Labor Department’s planned appeal of the recent court ruling invalidating part of their new joint employer rule. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

It’s happened again in Minneapolis. This week yet another brew pub in the city became a target for UNITE HERE and, as we discussed last week, we are not overly surprised. What was surprising, however, was how that particular management team reacted. We’ll discuss what they did and what the potential implications could be. And Samantha Padgett, General Counsel for the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association stopped by the pod and will bring us up to speed on the pending ballot initiative to raise the Florida minimum wage to $15/hour by 2026. She’ll tell us the state of play and what operators need to know and how to get engaged. And McDonald's is being sued by a group of former Black franchisees accusing the company of systemic racism when it comes to site selection and other franchise-related issues. We’ll discuss what that means for the company and how it fits into the overall ongoing national conversation on equality. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

This week saw our industry’s first successful union election in the post-Covid era when a Tattersall Distillery and cocktail bar location in Minneapolis overwhelmingly voted to organize. We’ll take a look at the factors that contributed to this, the vulnerability of that particular market and what operators need to pay attention to going forward. And we talk automation with Jamie Richardson, the Vice President of Government & Shareholder Relations for White Castle System, Inc and discuss his companies pending experiment leveraging robots in the back of the house. And we’ll also have a conversation about how a possible Biden Administration may have very different criteria for what responsible corporate engagement looks like than the current administration and what that could mean for brands going forward. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

The Independent Restaurant Coalition and the Restaurant Opportunities Center strengthened their alliance this week with a joint event held in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention. We’ll discuss this budding partnership and the potential impact it may have on the industry’s traditional political and policy agenda. And the franchise business model has once again been pulled into the ongoing debate in California around the reclassification of Uber drivers from independent contractors to regular employees. We’ll discuss what impact this may have on both franchisors and franchisees. And speaking of California, legislation has been introduced to create a wealth tax unlike any we’ve ever seen. We’ll discuss not only the bill itself but the larger impact it may have on the income inequality conversation. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Restaurants and bars continue to find themselves at the center of the national debate over recent spikes in the COVID-19 pandemic putting the industry in a precarious political and reputational position. We’ll discuss how the industry is going to have to thread the needle and be vigorous advocates for the business model while being sensitive to the health and safety challenges communities are facing. And after a long summer of suspense, Joe Biden finally made it official - naming Sen. Kamala Harris from California, his onetime rival for the nomination, as his running mate. We’ll take a look at her record from an industry perspective and discuss what her priorities might be. And the CEO of Uber is once again emerging from the independent contractor fracas in California - one that he partially created - and using it as a national platform to advocate for portable benefits. We’ll discuss what that could mean for employers both now and going forward. We’ll have those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.