It was born out of passage of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) back in 2010, but now the online enrollment and payment portal for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), is no more. Last Sunday, February 10, 2019, the enrollment and payment portal only, closed for good as SHOP coverage may now be…
Read More »Newly announced presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has gotten much of the coverage on raising taxing of late with her plan to levy a 2% tax on assets over $50 million, but failed 2016 (and likely 2020) democratic Presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is determined to penalize success as well. Staying in class…
Read More »Less than a year after employees at one unit of a QSR chain in Portland Oregon voted to unionize, a third store in the Burgerville franchise won NLRB approval in December as a separate bargaining unit. Three of the brand’s 42 stores across the Pacific Northwest are now organized as micro-unions and recognized by the…
Read More »Speaking of minimum wages, this past week the US House Education and Labor Committee held a full committee hearing on the Raise the Wage Act (H.582 – filed by Sanders, House Chairman Bobby Scott and a host of others) that lasted better than 7 hours. The bill would mandate an increase in the current $7.25…
Read More »It’s no surprise that Amazon yesterday reversed its decision to locate its HQ2 in New York City, and not only because new Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and other politicians bemoaned the online retailer creating all those jobs in Long Island City. It also seems a natural byproduct of the anti-business persona the city is adopting…
Read More »To the dismay of a number of retail and restaurant groups within Maryland, state senator Ron Young is now pushing legislation in Annapolis that would mandate combined reporting for state income purposes and potentially generate an additional $50 million in revenue for the Terrapin State. Combined reporting, which is currently the law in 27 states…
Read More »One question might be where will it be enacted first, as the Portland City Council and the Maine state legislature are both considering adoption of paid sick leave mandates for private businesses. The statewide legislation, LD369 filed by Senator Rebecca Millett, is similar to legislation she has filed in the past. It would apply to…
Read More »As we all know, many states and locales focused legislative efforts on banning plastic bags, straws and single-use bags in 2018. In that vein, we found an interesting article earlier this week on QSRWeb entitled ‘Single-use’ – QSRs ‘dirty word’ for 2019 and it may be more prescient than originally thought, speaking to an environmental…
Read More »Earlier this week, McDonald’s officially launched its new McCafé Donut Sticks nationwide after an extensive limited test in select markets since last July. The new LTO retails under $2 for a half dozen and at a national average of $3.29 per dozen. Perhaps of greater import to the Golden Arches however should be a January…
Read More »Just about one month ago, the 2018 Restaurant Industry Snapshot was released showing that restaurant sales were very strong throughout all of 2018. Same store sales grew by a full 2 percent in December, marking it the strongest monthly performance by the index in over three years. On an annual basis, 2018 same store sales…
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