The Working Lunch Align Public Strategies

The Repubican National Convention is in full swing and while there aren’t a whole lot of surprises, there has been a decidely anti-corporate feel to it. Should large companies in general, and their CEOs in particular, be worried about this. We’ll take a look.
And with most Republican elected officials in Milwaukee all week, there hasn’t been much opportunity for policy making so we will wrap it up with a very short legislative scorecard.

The national conversation on tips hit overdrive this week as former president Trump’s new cause - eliminating taxes on tipped income - has found its way into the Republican party platform at the upcoming convention. We’ll discuss what that means to the industry, as well as talk about the big win in Ohio and significant developments in Massachusetts.
And the Supreme Court continues to alter the regulatory environment with regard to how we run our businesses. The latest decision revoking the Chevron doctrine could be the most important one of all. We’ll do a deep dive into that.
We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Last week, we discussed how the former and possibly future President of the United States, Donald Trump, suggested that if elected, he would eliminate taxes on tipped income. This week, his loyalists in the U.S. Senate followed suit introducing legislation to do just that. While the bill may ever see the light of day, the conversation itself is putting the labor community and their friends on the blue team in a serious political jam. We’ll discuss.
And Minneapolis continues to be the national hotbed of labor organizing with additional high-end restaurants facing unionization campaigns this week. What is going on up there in the city of lakes? We dive into that.
We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

This week, the former and possibly future President of the United States, Donald Trump, suggested that if elected, he would eliminate taxes on tipped income. Two questions. Doesn’t he need a willing Congress to do that and secondly, how did tips find their way into being a presidential campaign issue? We’ll discuss.
And it was an important week on the minimum wage ballot front with big news out of both Arizona and Massachusetts. The landscape for the November ballot got a lot more clarity this week and we’ll dive into it.
We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We’re joined by Justin Winslow, the President & CEO of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association, who will discuss his organization’s successful legal battle before the state supreme court to remove a pending ballot measure to increase the minimum wage and eliminate the tip credit. But the issue is far from over and we talk about what’s coming next.
And California is at it again - this time creating a Fast Act for Janitorial Workers. We’ll talk about the SEIU’s continued focus on sectoral bargaining and what that could mean down the road for other industry players.
We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

A unionization effort at a high-profile restaurant in Minneapolis could be the equivalent of the early efforts in the coffee sector in both Boston and Buffalo that led directly to Starbucks. Operators large and small in Minneapolis better buckle up and operators everywhere should be paying close attention. We’ll explain why.
And we are joined by Mike Whatley, Vice-President of State Affairs & Grassroots Advocacy at the National Restaurant Association to talk about the state of play of the minimum wage ballot initiatives in Arizona, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri. We’ll also talk about junk fees and outline the industry priorities on the ground this summer.
We’ll talk about that important development and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.