FLORIDA VOTERS SHOULD TAKE HEED AS FEDERAL DATA WARNS OF A JOBLESS WORKFORCE WITH BALLOT AMENDMENT 2

Congressional Budget Office Report Reveals Damaging Economic Impacts for Floridians with a Wage Hike

Tallahassee, FL — The Amendment 2 Hurts You campaign is urging voters this week to review a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) about the severe and irreversible consequences of a $15 mandatory minimum wage inserted into the Florida Constitution.

This November 3, Florida voters have a choice about the future of Florida jobs, Florida small businesses and Florida’s economy. If Ballot Amendment 2, the $15 mandatory minimum wage is passed, a 2019 report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reveals Floridians stand to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs with an abrupt and massive wage hike.

According to CBO’s median estimate, with a mandated $15 minimum wage nationwide, “1.3 million workers who would otherwise be employed would be jobless in an average week in 2025.”

CBO’s analysis demonstrates how increasing the minimum wage could negatively affect employment and family income in Florida. If the nation were to increase the federal minimum wage, as many as 3.7 million Americans could become jobless as a direct result of the wage hike. The report estimates that a $15 wage hike would also reduce total real family income in 2025 by $9 billion nationwide.

“These data points stand as a warning to the havoc Ballot Amendment 2 will bring on our workforce and small business owners in Florida,” said Carol Dover, President & CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “Our economy is on life support already, with tens of thousands of small businesses struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. More than one million Floridians are currently without a job. We simply cannot risk killing more jobs and leaving more families without a source of income.”

The CBO report also confirms that Florida consumers will be left paying higher prices as the cost of the wage hike will be passed on through price increases. With businesses left to absorb the hefty cost, many will have to raise prices on goods and services.

The $15 mandatory minimum wage would “reduce business income and raise prices as higher labor costs were absorbed by business owners and then passed on to consumers; and reduce the nation’s output slightly through the reduction in employment and a corresponding decline in the nation’s stock of capital (such as buildings, machines, and technologies). On the basis of those effects and CBO’s estimate of the median effect on employment, the $15 option would reduce total real (inflation-adjusted) family income in 2025 by $9 billion.”

The CBO study and its findings were reported well before the COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of Floridians into unemployment, thousands of businesses to close and the economy to take a dive.

Ballot Amendment 2 is a Constitutional amendment for voters to consider on November 3 that will raise the mandatory minimum wage in Florida to $15 an hour. This will increase payroll for businesses in the service industry by 77%.

Similar measures adopted in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C., have proven to kill jobs. In these cities, the measure was implemented without the extreme challenges of a global pandemic.

Before COVID-19, Florida’s restaurant, lodging and tourism industry generated more than $112 billion in annual economic impact and provided jobs for more than 1.5 million Florida families. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many were forced to close leaving hundreds of thousands of Florida workers without a job.

Amendment 2 Hurts You is a campaign to raise awareness for the consequences of Ballot Amendment 2 on small businesses, workers and the economy.

Learn more about how Ballot Amendment 2 will devastate Florida:

• Online at Amendment2HurtsYou.com
• On Facebook
• On Twitter
• On LinkedIn
• On Instagram

Help save Florida jobs by voting no on Ballot Amendment 2 this November.

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Paid Political Advertisement by Save Florida Jobs Inc.
230 South Adams St., Ste 200
Tallahassee, FL, 32301

Welcome back to the SafeStaff Connector.  The challenges and sheer volume of information from the pandemic caused us to minimize our food safety communication, but we couldn’t let Food Safety Month pass by without sharing some useful and relevant news.

The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association recently introduced our Seal of Commitment guest confidence program.  This is FRLA’s designation for demonstrating your commitment to safety and sanitation standards that will bring guests back.  The Seal of Commitment is a promise that your food service or lodging operation meets safety and sanitation standards prescribed by FRLA, and exceeds regulatory mandates. Seal of Commitment recipients have demonstrated their facility and staff are focused on guest health and safety. To qualify, businesses must meet these criteria:

• All managers have a current food manager certificate;
• All employees have a current food handler certificate;
• All employees complete an FRLA COVID-19 Sanitation & Safety Course;
• Establishments meet specific sanitation standards.

Visit our Seal of Commitment webpage to learn about the many benefits to earning this designation.

September is Food Safety Month: The National Restaurant Association, through its Food Safety Focus web page has published some great resources for you to use when training staff.  National Food Safety Month 2020 is themed as “Managing Risk:  30 Years of Food Safety.”   They’ve provided some downloadable materials such as a personal hygiene pop quiz, personal hygiene tips in poster format, reading material relating to best personal hygiene practices, cleaning and sanitizing, safe food prep, food safety procedures and COVID-19 precautions.  Find out more here.

SafeStaff Offers FREE Sanitation and Safety Training:  SafeStaff is offering FREE training for operating during the global pandemic to all FRLA members and RCS Training clients.  This training program will help you reopen and stay open safely and will instill confidence in your guests.  This training program covers:

• Maintaining professionalism during a public health crisis
• Effective cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting
• Employee personal health and hygiene standards
• Proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Delivering superior service while social distancing
• Security and safety during a vulnerable time

Contact SafeStaff at 800-537-9863 or [email protected] for more information.  The program is offered online and to non-members as well. Find out more here.

COVID-19 Supplies:  If open, all hospitality industry members must utilize new procedures, products and solutions to comply with governmental requirements.  Visit FRLA’s COVID-19 Supplies directory for many of the supplies you need to remain open during the global pandemic. Learn more here.

COVID-19 Guidance for Restaurant Operations:  ServeSafe has compiled a good listing of everything you need for guidance with regards to operations during the global pandemic on their Food Safety Focus page.  Check it out.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Recommends Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill for Food Safety Education Month and Year-Round:  The USDA has posted some great information about Food Safety Month and recommendations on their FoodSafety.gov page to use for team training.

In addition, we are at the height of hurricane season in September, and it is always time to get a plan.  USDA has put together a poster and some information to assist with before, during and after for food safety in a disaster or emergency.  Visit their webpage for more info.

Foodhandler Training Is Mandatory In Florida!  Be sure your your employees are current and have received this important training.  Visit SafeStaff.org to learn more.

Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) will submit Florida’s application to participate in the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Program.

This program, authorized by a memorandum from President Trump, provides additional temporary benefits for individuals who are eligible for Reemployment Assistance for weeks of unemployment ending on or after Aug. 1, 2020.

“On behalf of Floridians who are continuing to face challenges finding employment, I would like to thank President Trump for providing additional funding while they get back on their feet,” said Governor DeSantis. “We appreciate the opportunity to provide this temporary assistance through the Lost Wages Assistance program.”

Pending federal approval, this will allow Florida to offer an additional $300 per week to eligible Reemployment Assistance claimants. To be eligible for this benefit, claimants must be currently receiving at least $100 in an approved Reemployment Assistance program weekly benefit amount and must certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19. Pending approval of Florida’s application, payments will be retroactive to August 1, 2020.

Floridians who are currently receiving Reemployment Assistance benefits, are unemployed or partially unemployed due to COVID-19 and are currently receiving at least $100 per week in Reemployment Assistance benefits will be eligible to receive the additional $300 benefits from the LWA funds funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This includes individuals receiving:

• State Reemployment Assistance, including Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) and Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX);
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC);
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA);
• Extended Benefits (EB);
• Short-Time Compensation (STC);
• Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA); and
• Payments under the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program.

The LWA program will be administered similarly to the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. No additional application will be necessary. Eligible Floridians who are currently receiving Reemployment Assistance will receive their LWA benefits the same week they receive their weekly Reemployment Assistance benefits. DEO highly recommends that Reemployment Assistance claimants select direct deposit as their means of receiving benefits to ensure payments are received as quickly as possible.

Funding for this program comes from FEMA disaster relief funds. Guidance from FEMA and the U.S. Department of Labor indicates that states should be able to receive approximately three weeks’ worth of benefits upon approval, with additional weekly approval being granted on a weekly basis, depending on the remaining balance of the fund. However, funding could end at any time, and is contingent upon a required state match based on state re-employment assistance paid out during the period.

DEO is currently preparing to implement the LWA program to ensure eligible Floridians receive the additional benefits as quickly as possible.

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FLORIDA SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND EMPLOYEES SAY: BALLOT AMENDMENT 2 HURTS YOU

Small and family-owned businesses barely hanging on during COVID will be devastated by mandatory minimum wage hikes

Tallahassee, FL — Florida small business owners and workers launched today the “Amendment 2 Hurts You” campaign to fight the mandatory minimum wage ballot initiative that will kill jobs, reduce workers’ income and destroy Florida’s economy.

“Ballot Amendment 2 is a job killer. It will hurt businesses, and it will destroy Florida’s economy,” said Carol Dover, President & CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “We are putting more than 2 million potential jobs at stake here in Florida. This is a bad amendment. In an effort not to hurt your local restaurants and hotels and some of your favorite places to visit, we are asking you to please vote no on Ballot Amendment 2.”

Coupled with the long-term effects of COVID-19 on Florida’s economy, Ballot Amendment 2 will have catastrophic impacts on small businesses, which are the backbone of our state.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business in Florida for almost 25 years. I’ve put my heart and my love into my business and my community. This mandatory wage increase is bad for business, and if it’s bad for my business, it’s bad for my employees,” said John Horne, owner of Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Bradenton. “It’s a vicious spiral that I really don’t want to see. We don’t want to be forced to increase our minimum wage, cutting jobs, cutting hours, raising prices. COVID has already devastated us, I can’t imagine my business going through this. I’ve invested my blood, sweat and tears into my business over the past 25 years. I know the large companies can absorb this, but a small business like mine, we will be crushed.”

This scheme has already been passed in liberal cities across the United States: Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C. It has killed jobs, closed businesses and expanded the income gap. Their streets are covered in poverty, riots, crime and unrest.

Simone Barron, founder of the workers’ advocacy group, the Full-Service Workers Alliance Seattle, knows this firsthand.

“Soon after the $15 minimum wage was implemented in Seattle, we started seeing the negative consequences of that wage hike,” Barron said. “Our tips were diminishing…. and that impacted my pocketbook. Then our employers decided to cut back on hours. I ended up working six days a week between two different jobs as opposed to four days a week just to make the same amount of money. Perhaps large, multinational corporations that have valuations on Wall Street can absorb an arbitrary wage increase, but where you will really feel the pain is on Main Street, with small businesses. They can’t absorb a wage hike like this and be able to support workers like me. It just doesn’t work.”

Ballot Amendment 2 will crush local businesses in Florida. These businesses have suffered significantly in recent months due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Before COVID-19, Florida’s restaurant, lodging and tourism industry generated more than $112 billion in annual economic impact and provided jobs for more than 1.5 million Florida families.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many were forced to close. Nearly 100,000 of these jobs were furloughed or eliminated. Now, Ballot Amendment 2 could force businesses to do even more with less.

For more information about Ballot Amendment 2 and its devastating impacts on small businesses, workers and Florida’s economy, visit www.amendment2hurtsyou.com.

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Paid Political Advertisement by Save Florida Jobs Inc.

230 South Adams St., Ste 200

Tallahassee, FL 32301

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) has released Frequently Asked Questions for restaurants and food establishments in response to recent Executive Orders and to provide additional guidance and clarification.

View the FAQs here.

ALERT 8/14/20: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is currently tracking an unknown malicious cyber actor who is spoofing the Small Business Administration (SBA) COVID-19 loan relief webpage via phishing emails. These emails include a malicious link to the spoofed SBA website that the cyber actor is using for malicious re-directs and credential stealing.

For more information, visit the CISA webpage here.

Learn More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                
August 11, 2020

FORT MYERS – On Thursday, August 13, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) Lee County Chapter will launch the regional distribution of 50,000 complimentary reusable cloth masks to local hospitality employees at a giveaway event in Fort Myers. Events in Collier and Charlotte Counties will follow in the coming days; specifics will be announced at the Fort Myers event.

The event is part of an effort to provide masks to hotel and restaurant workers across the State of Florida and is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. To date, HHS has donated nearly one million masks for distribution to hospitality employees across Florida.

What:    FRLA mask giveaway event for local hospitality employees

When:   August 13, 2020 – 1:00 p.m.

Media should arrive no later than 12:45 p.m. to ensure socially distant set-up.

Where:  Global Restaurant Superstore*

10880 Metro Parkway

Fort Myers, FL 33966

Who:     Lee County Commissioner and Chairman Brian Hamman

Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass

Jay Johnson, President, FRLA Lee County Chapter President and Owner of Bubba’s Roadhouse & Saloon

Lois Croft, Southwest Florida Regional Director, FRLA

Bob “Smitty” Smith, Owner of Global Restaurant Superstore

President Donald Trump signed four Executive Orders this weekend to help students and families struggling because of COVID-19. The action follows a breakdown in negotiations this week between Congress and the Administration. The actions include an extension of unemployment benefits through the end of year, which come down from $600/week to $400/week.

The four Orders include: 

1. Defer payroll taxes for Americans earning less than $100,000 a year.
2. Implement a moratorium on evictions and give financial assistance to renters.
3. Add $400 per week in extra unemployment benefits through the end of 2020, requiring states to cover 25% of the additional benefits.
4. Postpone student loan interest and payments through the end of 2020.

Learn more and read the Executive Orders here.