FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770

Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766

mhaller@franchise.org

jweisbord@franchise.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2015—International Franchise Association Executive Vice President of Government Relations, Robert Cresanti released the below statement following the House passage of H.R. 22, the Hire More Heroes Act, sponsored by Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL). The Hire More Heroes Act would encourage employers to hire military veterans by not including veteran employees when calculating a business’ number of full-time equivalent employees for purposes of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate.   



“We applaud the House for passing Hire More Heroes Act, allowing employers to hire more veterans without fear of massive cost increases from crossing the threshold of 50 full-time equivalent employees.  By also requiring that those employees are covered under TRICARE or by the Veterans Administration, the legislation ensures that veterans are not deprived of health coverage.



“A significant hurdle for many business owners to hiring any additional workers is the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate, and by itself we believe it to be misguided policy; however it should not keep us from fulfilling our responsibility to America’s veterans. The Hire More Heroes Act will create good jobs for countless veterans who have served our country honorably.



“As millions of American military personnel return from abroad and leave the armed forces, providing our men and women in uniform with civilian jobs is not only a moral imperative, but an economic one. We are proud of the franchise industry’s efforts to help veterans become local franchise business owners as well as find employment in franchise establishments through our successful VetFran program, and will continue to work with policymakers in Washington to create additional programs and incentives to hire veterans.”   

To read IFA’s letter of support, click here. 

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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 55 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 770,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million direct and indirect 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.  

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