Yesterday, the Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Ways & Means held a hearing to examine the one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate.  Last Tuesday, the Administration announced that it would be delaying the implementation until 2015.

Recently, legislation was introduced in both the House and Senate that would change the definition of a full-time employee from an average of 30 hours per work to 40 hours per week.  Rep. Todd Young (R-IN) introduced the house version, H.R. 2575, and a companion bill, S. 1188, was introduced by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN).

As the immigration debate continues on Capitol Hill and across the country, ImmigrationWorks, a national organization advancing immigration reform that works for all Americans, held an event in Washington D.C. today at the American Enterprise Institute to help lawmakers and voters understand the most important elements for creating a better legal system for the future.

In advance of the International Franchise Expo this weekend at the Jacob Javits Center, Fox and Friends spent some time with different franchise concepts that are hiring and continuing to add jobs to the economy.

The transition from US Army Specialist as a Military Police Officer, to that of a kilt-wearing window and exterior cleaning technician might seem odd from an outsider’s perspective. But in all reality, it makes perfect sense.

As part of the franchising industry’s support of the White House Joining Forces initiative, IFA President & CEO Steve Caldeira joined President Obama, Vice President Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden onstage to mark the hiring of 290,000 veterans and military spouses who have been hired or trained since the launch of the initiative in 2011. Franchising contributed almost a quarter of this total.

As the immigration reform debate heats up in Washington ahead of the anticipated release of the Senate “Gang of Eight” legislative framework next week, IFA is making the voice of franchising heard to ensure the industry has the workers it needs as it continues to grow in the years ahead as part of any guest worker program that is included in the legislation.

With ongoing discussions by Republicans and Democrats on the fiscal cliff, franchise business owners are weighing in about the impact higher tax rates would have on their business. House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Majority

VetFran was founded in 1991 in an effort led by Chairman Don Dwyer, Sr. (USAF, Ret.), founder of The Dwyer Group, to support veterans returning from the Gulf War transition to the civilian economy.  Since then over 6,300 veterans have become franchise owners through VetFran and The Dwyer Group continues to play a leading role in VetFran.

The franchising industry made history as the IFA launched Operation Enduring Opportunity, a campaign built off of our VetFran strategic initiative to hire and recruit 75,000 veterans and 5,000 Wounded Warriors as business owners and team members.