Following more than 200 visits with bipartisa
Following more than 200 visits with bipartisan members of Congress during the International Franchise Association’s 12th Annual Public Affairs Conference this week, IFA applauded Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Reps. Charles Boustany (R-La.), Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) and John Barrow (D-Ga.) for a renewed push for passage of legislation to repeal the employer mandate provision of the health care law, citing new data from the IFA and the Hudson Institute that 3.2 million jobs will be put at risk by the law.
Sen. Hatch is the sponsor of S. 20, The American Job Protection Act, which includes a repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provision requiring employers with more than 50 full-time employees to offer affordable health insurance or pay a penalty of $2,000 per employee. The House equivalent, H.R. 1744, is sponsored by Reps. Boustany, Tiberi, and Barrow, and passed the House earlier this year.
A recent study by the Hudson Institute for IFA concluded that, without significant changes to the health care law, 3.2 million full-time employees at tens of thousands of franchise businesses will be at risk of losing their jobs. The report also found that many franchisors and franchisees, who often own groups of establishments, such as restaurants, hotels, retail and service businesses, will be at a "comparative disadvantage" relative to other businesses with fewer locations and fewer employees. The law discourages franchisees from owning and operating multiple locations, when the combined employment exceeds 50 or more full-time workers.
As part of IFA’s ongoing lobbying campaign to reach lawmakers and opinion leaders about the impact of the employer mandate, IFA joined at a press conference on Capitol Hill yesterday with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Sen. Hatch and Rep. Boustany, who reiterated IFA’s studyshowing the employer mandate threatens to put many small businesses at a disadvantage in competing with businesses that have fewer employees and are not subject to the same regulations. Meanwhile, an op-ed piece by Caldeira appeared in The Hill newspaper and, David Barr, a KFC multi-unit franchisee from Atlanta, Ga., and member of IFA’s Board of Directors,appeared on Fox Business yesterday to discuss the impact of the employer mandate on the job-creating abilities of his business and his colleagues in the franchise industry.
IFA’s number one priority for health care is to ensure that health insurance is more affordable for franchised businesses and their employees. For a decade, the IFA has supported legislation that would enable small employers to band together through national associations or franchise systems to purchase health insurance. IFA also supports proposals that strengthen consumer-oriented, affordable health insurance options.
Posted by Matt Haller, IFA Director of Communications