We Stand Up For You

We stand up for you.

It’s the job of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association to stay on top of things effecting your business. We vet out pending legislation or new regulations and give that info to our members in layman’s terms.

Our job is to be a champion for the foodservice industry. Which means making sure that we’re protecting your business through non-partisan, pro-business advocacy.

WRA listens to the needs of the food and beverage industry. And through our daily representation at the State Capitol and in DC we are able to guide the discussion on policy that is fair to our industry’s operators.

Government doesn’t just make things happen to help you.
WRA has a seat at the table making sure your voice is heard.

ISSUES THAT WE WERE A CHAMPION ON AND WON

Cocktails-to-Go
A seemingly simple request took a lot of effort but we pulled off a win with restaurants and bars being granted the opportunity to sell sealed cocktails to go.

PPP & RRF Expense Deductibility
Pushed for Wisconsin to mirror the federal government and allow for expenses paid with COVID PPP loan & RRF grant proceeds to also be
tax deductible.

“We’re All In” Grants
WRA worked with the Governor, Wisconsin Department of Revenue and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to help restaurant and hospitality operators claim over $670 million in grants during COVID.

Unemployment Insurance Account Replenishment
Made sure that employers who were forced to lay off workers due to the pandemic, had their Unemployment Insurance Funds replenished and were not penalized due to restrictions and shutdowns.

Pandemic Liability Protection
WRA worked with other business groups to ensure that struggling small businesses are not saddled with frivolous lawsuits connected to COVID 19 transmission.

ISSUES THAT WE HAVE OUR EYE ON RIGHT NOW

Workforce Development
With our industry now facing an epic labor shortage, WRA is fully focused on how to help.

Seeking a guest worker program to allow undocumented workers to legally stay and work here
Advocating for legal status for Dreamers
Requesting increases in J1 student exchange and H-2B work visa programs
Creation of a temporary worker visa program to match legal foreign-born workers with employers

Third Party Delivery Consent Law
Food delivery is critical to business growth. But there must be transparency with third party vendors. WRA is advocating for:

Giving restaurants the right to know and determine when and if their food is delivered by a third party.
Restaurants deserve transparency on issues surrounding fees, costs, terms, policies, marketing practices and insurance/indemnity must be clear.

WRA’s Third Party Consent bill did pass unanimously in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2022, but was stalled in the State Senate. WRA will bring the bill forward again in the 2023-2024 legislative session.

Repeal Personal Property Tax
Fighting for the elimination of this archaic 175-year-old tax that requires you to pay taxes every year on fixtures and equipment (regardless how long ago you purchased it), discouraging you from investing that money back into your business for upgrades and remodeling. A full repeal of the personal property tax was passed by the state legislature in 2021, but was vetoed by Governor Evers. We will work hard again in the 2023-2024 session to again pass this important reform.

SIGN UP TO STAY IN THE KNOW
Do you want to stay in the loop on critical government relations issues that could impact your business? Are you interested in helping influence policy decisions? Sign up to receive our email and/or text alerts about current advocacy issues. [link to Capitol Canary sign up]

For more information, please contact:
Susan Quam
Executive Vice President
608.216.2875
squam@wirestaurant.org