FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770
Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766
mhaller@franchise.org
jweisbord@franchise.org
IFA APPLAUDS LAWMAKERS FOR INTRODUCING EMPLOYER MANDATE REPEAL BILL
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2013—International Franchise Association Senior Vice President of Government Relations & Public Policy Judith Thorman released the following statement regarding the introduction of the American Job Protection Act to repeal the job-killing employer mandate that was included in the President’s $2.6 trillion Affordable Care Act. The new law requires businesses of 50 full-time equivalent employees or more to provide health insurance of minimum value or pay a penalty of $2,000 for each employee working 30 hours or more a week. The American Job Protection Act was introduced by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) in the Senate and companion legislation was introduced in the House by U.S. Reps. Charles Boustany, Jr. (R-La.), Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) and John Barrow (D-Ga.).
“The Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable for the franchising community. According to a study by the nonpartisan Hudson Institute, the employer mandate puts 3.2 million full-time jobs at risk in the franchise industry, and will add more than $6.4 billion in increased costs to franchise businesses, not including the cost of regulatory compliance.
“The employer mandate places costly burdens on franchise business owners and creates perverse incentives that may lead some franchise owners to choose between shifting workers to part-time status or eliminate jobs altogether. For some, these workforce decisions could be the difference between staying in business or going out of business, particularly given the additional economic and public policy pressures that have been placed on the small business community in the past several years, including increases in tax rates as a result of the ACA and the fiscal cliff deal, difficulty accessing capital and fluctuating energy and commodity costs.
“We are grateful to these bipartisan lawmakers for recognizing the burden that the employer mandate places on the franchising community, and look forward to working in both the legislative and regulatory arenas to gain additional flexibility for America’s franchise owners in complying with the Affordable Care Act.”
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About the International Franchise Association
The International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating over 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising. Through its media awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the economic impact of the more than 825,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.