With much sleight of hand – and very little, if any, transparency, the DC Council slipped in an additional increase to the District sugary drink tax, when it passed the DC budget back at the end of May. Proposed by Ward 3 Councilor Mary Cheh as part of the $15.5 billion budget instead of as…
Read More »The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, unquestionably the most liberal federal court in the nation, surprised many last week when it unanimously upheld an injunction against a San Francisco law mandating health warnings on ads for soda and sugary drinks. The City by the Bay adopted legislation back in 2015 that mandated specific language relating…
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The more things change the more they stay the same. That’s the theme when it comes to a couple of critical federal regulations that have the potential to have a big impact on the bottom line of the quick service industry. Victory celebrations over the rollback of the joint-employer rule turned out to be short-lived,…
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Good old 2017 ended with a bang, with the Trump Administration making good on its promises to axe a controversial ruling that Dunkin’ and other franchise owners have argued undermines the very foundations of franchising. The National Labor Relations Board has dumped the Obama-era joint-employer rule, which had sowed confusion and stirred fears of unionization…
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Sure, the franchise world is tough, but measuring success isn’t all that complicated, according to Don Fox, chief executive of Firehouse Subs. “Growth is not an option,” Fox told Dunkin’s franchise owners gathered at the DDIFO National Conference, held this year at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Oct. 30-31. “In business as in most things in…
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Don’t look now but the dreaded sugary beverage tax is back. That’s the word from Cicely Simpson, executive vice president for public affairs at the National Restaurant Association. Health activists around the country are now pushing a new crop of initiatives that would slap taxes on soda and other drinks. “This is coming back up…
Read More »The Cook County soda tax is going the way of 1917 national predecessor, repealed! The effort first got its real momentum a few weeks ago and then a budget deal was reached last week that cut the tax from the county budget. Tuesday, the County Finance Committee endorsed the repeal effort by a vote of…
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You win some, you lose some. As we head into the fall, franchise owners from Dunkin’ Donuts and other QSR systems have some reasons for optimism and some things to worry about as well. Increasing the minimum wage has been all the rage over the past few years, with union and other activists successfully pushing…
Read More »In so many ways, it could be described as poetic justice, but the federal government has threatened to withhold as much as $87 million from Cook Country as a result of their imposition of a countrywide tax on sugary beverages. The rub comes from the fact that purchases made with food stamps are exempt from…
Read More »Although Cook County Circuit Judge Daniel Kubasiak had issued restraining orders previously against the new soda tax the county was imposing, it turned out to be a false hope as last Friday, Judge Kubasiak dissolved the injunction he had placed on the new penny-per-ounce levy that was to take effect July 1. When the injunction…
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