Being a Voice for our Industry through COVID-19
A Government Affairs Update
March Madness tip-off and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were twenty-four hours away and then they vanished. Spring break plans were canceled, and nobody knows how the summer travel season will look. The COVID-19 virus has changed all current operations of the hospitality industry. Some businesses have temporarily closed doors while others were forced to scale back services. Now as always, the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association (MRLA) is dedicated to providing the hospitality industry with unparalleled member service during these times.
Typically during these months the Government Affairs department would be focused on securing funding for programs such as ProStart, educating elected officials on the importance of maintaining and increasing Pure Michigan funding, and promoting legislation to help you and your employees succeed. While we are still your full-throated voice, our focus now is promoting legislation and programs that will help you survive this crisis and thrive again when it is over. We have found some early success and will be building upon these in the coming weeks and months.
We can claim wins at both state and federal levels in influencing legislation that will help you and your employees. It will be critical to build upon this momentum. We also understand you have questions and concerns and we are a resource to provide answers. We are always available by phone or email, and are keenly aware most of you have had some sleepless nights and will likely have more in the future. Thanks to partnerships with groups including the American Hotel and Lodging Association and the National Restaurant Association we are pleased to offer numerous resources that are available twenty-four hours a day online.
Typically during these months the Government Affairs department would be focused on securing funding for programs such as ProStart, educating elected officials on the importance of maintaining and increasing Pure Michigan funding, and promoting legislation to help you and your employees succeed. While we are still your full-throated voice, our focus now is promoting legislation and programs that will help you survive this crisis and thrive again when it is over. We have found some early success and will be building upon these in the coming weeks and months.
We can claim wins at both state and federal levels in influencing legislation that will help you and your employees. It will be critical to build upon this momentum. We also understand you have questions and concerns and we are a resource to provide answers. We are always available by phone or email, and are keenly aware most of you have had some sleepless nights and will likely have more in the future. Thanks to partnerships with groups including the American Hotel and Lodging Association and the National Restaurant Association we are pleased to offer numerous resources that are available twenty-four hours a day online.
I am sure you would be fine never hearing the acronyms SBA, EIDL, or PPP ever again. These programs were designed to assist small business owners who employ five hundred people or less. Many members have expressed frustration with the lack of clarity, everchanging guidance, and delayed timelines. However, it appears these miscues have largely been corrected, loans have been approved, and funds are starting to be distributed. Hopefully these programs will allow you to maintain payroll, pay rent and utilities, and inject some much-needed liquidity into your businesses. A specific win on this issue was allowing each property to be considered its own entity as it applies to the five hundred-employee threshold. Had this change not been initiated, many would not have been eligible for this program. The MRLA understands and is dedicated to additional efforts needed at the federal level, and are in constant contact with our hospitality partners in Washington D.C. to pursue these changes.
At the state level we continue to engage key policymakers stressing that reintegration will look significantly different for the hospitality industry compared to other businesses. We were the first required to close and will likely be the last to fully re-open. Additionally, we have no idea how the general public will react to large gatherings. The MRLA has advocated for, and secured delays in license payments and renewals. The MRLA has partnered with like-minded business groups to postpone sales, use, and withholding tax payments and also developed a liquor buyback program with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. The MRLA is in consistently engaging with our state partners to share best practices and collaborate on how to serve the industry. We recognize much more work is needed, and have no intention of tempering our efforts to serve the industry. Currently, our industry’s destiny is not of our choosing. Our members did not expect, nor did they invite a confrontation with this disease. They did not seek nor provoke their life’s work to be threatened. The hospitality industry will be defined for years to come by how they respond to this crisis. We are proud to stand with and serve you during this historical time, and look forward to stopping by when restaurants and hotels are open again.
At the state level we continue to engage key policymakers stressing that reintegration will look significantly different for the hospitality industry compared to other businesses. We were the first required to close and will likely be the last to fully re-open. Additionally, we have no idea how the general public will react to large gatherings. The MRLA has advocated for, and secured delays in license payments and renewals. The MRLA has partnered with like-minded business groups to postpone sales, use, and withholding tax payments and also developed a liquor buyback program with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. The MRLA is in consistently engaging with our state partners to share best practices and collaborate on how to serve the industry. We recognize much more work is needed, and have no intention of tempering our efforts to serve the industry. Currently, our industry’s destiny is not of our choosing. Our members did not expect, nor did they invite a confrontation with this disease. They did not seek nor provoke their life’s work to be threatened. The hospitality industry will be defined for years to come by how they respond to this crisis. We are proud to stand with and serve you during this historical time, and look forward to stopping by when restaurants and hotels are open again.
