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Sen. Lamar Alexander and Rep. John Kline named as recipients of the 2015 IFA Legislator of the year award

 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2015— The International Franchise Association, the world’s largest organization representing franchise owners, has named Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Rep. John Kline (R-MN) as its 2015 Legislator of the Year award recipients during Franchise Action Network Annual Meeting. The Legislator of the Year Award is given to lawmakers who support a pro-franchising, pro-business agenda.

“We applaud Sen. Alexander and Rep. Kline for their leadership highlighting the issues of concern to the franchising community and working to address the challenges facing the franchise business leaders,” said IFA President & CEO Robert Cresanti. “We very much appreciate and support  their recently introduced bipartisan legislation to preserve franchising as a viable business model for small business ownership and job creation by invalidating the attempt of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to rewrite the law through its ‘joint employer’ ruling.”

Sen. Alexander and Rep. Kline have been champions for small business ownership and the franchise business model, particularly through their collective efforts to overturn the NLRB’s ruling that would seek to create the legal fiction that franchisees and franchisors are joint employers. Their push to pass the Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act, S. 2015 & H.R. 3459, will restore certainty to franchising, allowing for the continued creation of new businesses and much-needed jobs. Furthermore, Sen. Lamar and Rep. Kline, as chairmen of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the House Education & Workforce Committee respectively, have helped bring small business owners’ concerns about government overreach in their day-to-day business operations a key concern of the 114^th Congress.

“We commend both Sen. Alexander and Rep. Kline for their efforts to protect small business owners and an industry that directly supports nearly 8.9 million jobs and contributes $890 billion of economic output for national economy,” added Cresanti.

IFA’s Franchise Action Network Annual Meeting brings more than 400 franchise business leaders in Washington to educate Congress about public policy issues that specifically impact the economic health of franchise small businesses. Members of the franchise business community will meet with more than 200 lawmakers to stress the economic impact of franchising and educate members on top concerns impacting their businesses, including changes to the joint employer definition. The Franchise Action Network Annual Meeting is part of IFA’s Franchise Action Network (FAN) , a strategic initiative that seeks to mobilize the franchise industry at the grassroots level. It presents a united front against anti-franchising forces as well as educate policymakers on the franchise business model and its positive impact on communities across the country.

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About the International Franchise Association

Celebrating 55 years of excellence, education and advocacy, the International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and the more than 780,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 8.9 million direct jobs, $890 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy and 3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law, technology and business development.

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