Association making headway with legislative leaders

The Rhode Island Hospitality Association says this year’s legislative session ended with the industry at least able to stay on an equal footing with other sectors. That’s thanks largely to defeat of both a bill that would have reduced the sales tax for most industries but not hospitality, and another measure to create a commission to study a minimum wage within the hospitality industry.
Each of those bills could have created a competitive disadvantage for the industry, said H. Robert Bacon, chairman of the association’s board of directors, and association President and CEO Dale J. Venturini.
Partly because hospitality as an industry has been growing, unlike other industries, despite the recession, Bacon said, the “uninformed attitude” that “just 1 more percent” in taxes from the hospitality segment of the marketplace wouldn’t hurt the industry is the “the kind of attitude that’s existed for a long time [in Rhode Island].”
Ultimately, the sales tax was not restructured, because, “this year, we had some people that understood [that position]. We felt it was actually taken seriously,” he said.
Bacon also expressed concern, however, that the hospitality industry “has a target on our back” and is often singled out for changes or attempts to generate state revenue that could have negative repercussions on business. He cited the meals tax as an example.
“We already have a meals tax,” he said. “My customers pay 8 percent instead of 7 percent [tax]. It generates hundreds of thousands of dollars. When it was put on, we were assured it was a temporary solution, but it hasn’t gone away.”
Asked about the association’s concerns, House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello noted that the intent of new bills is to help not only individual sectors at times, but “the economy and the state in the long term. “All legislation is subject to the committee process and amending ideas to make them better,” he said. “What you ultimately have to look at is [how to] take the raw product and make it better.”
A situation, Venturini and Bacon said, in which the association got mixed results was a bill that passed that will require restaurants and hotels to recycle organic food waste.
Although the bill became law, it will not take effect until 2016 because recycling facilities to handle the organic waste are not yet in place. The law also has been amended so it would not apply if an outlet generates less than 104 tons of organic waste a year or is not within 15 miles of an authorized facility, they said.
“It’s another great example of something that’s well-intentioned that’s not ready to be implemented,” said Bacon. “There is no place that will take the waste, and there’s a lot of things that would have to be worked out for that to make practical sense. We don’t oppose the idea, what we oppose is someone trying to implement something where the pieces aren’t in place to implement it effectively.”
Mattiello said the hospitality industry itself will find cost savings in the new law eventually.
“Ultimately that’s going to save the industry a lot of money and it will save a lot of the organic waste from going into the landfill, and reduce gas emissions, which cause odors around the landfill,” he said.
Another bill that passed that Venturini and Bacon say may expose hotel and restaurant owners to liability is a new law that allows them to voluntarily use medical devices such as the Epipen to treat a customer’s serious allergic reaction to foods or bee stings. “We did a lot of research on this,” Venturini said. “It sounds fabulous, but we don’t think our industry should be in the health care business because it does require someone to be trained [to administer an injection]. If something were to happen [and] whatever we did affected someone negatively, and there was a claim, the insurance company would not recognize that claim. Our insurance providers said, despite the ‘Good Samaritan’ position [legally], most insurance policies would not provide coverage.”
Going forward, the association will educate its members about the pros and cons of having such a device on hand and let them make their own decisions, she said.
Overall, however, the 2014 legislative session offered hope of increased communication with legislative leaders going forward, Bacon said.
“We were busier than I ever remember being and talking about issues isolated to our industry,” he said. “And we’re pretty happy with the results. We thought that we were able to be heard on issues that were important to us, or at least our opinions were factored in. That hasn’t always been the case.”
Bacon attributed the constructive tenor of debate and willingness to listen to opposing points of view in part to Mattiello, D-Cranston, who took over for former Speaker Gordon D. Fox, D-Providence, by promising to renew the focus on business, jobs and the economy.
“Generally, I believe the hospitality industry is a very important segment [of] our economy and my focus is [on] helping each and every segment,” Mattiello said in response. “I will always focus on doing the best I can to create a better environment for them to operate in.” •

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