WASHINGTON—After urging the U.S. House of Representatives to pass The Save American Workers Act a day before the vote on Capitol Hill, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) achieved a major milestone for the lodging industry as the bill was passed.
Hundreds of hoteliers attended the AH&LA’s 2014 Legislative Action Summit (LAS), advocating for passage of this bill during an extensive list of meetings with their congressional delegations. The vote on H.R. 2575, introduced by Congressman Todd Young (R-IN), immediately followed the conclusion of LAS, which was held here April 1-2 at the JW Marriott.
Changing the full-time definition of The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has become one of the top priorities for the hotel industry. How the ACA is defined has led to disruptions in the workforce and prevented employees from maintaining flexible work schedules, according to the AH&LA. It also has had a serious impact on local economies, particularly small businesses. The lodging industry is comprised mostly of small businesses with more than 55% of hotels consisting of 75 rooms or less, said the association.
Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of AH&LA, said in a statement, “Today’s passage of The Save American Workers Act is an important step toward providing much-needed stability for hotels, inns and resorts. Serving our guests is a 24/7 operation, and as such, flexibility on scheduling is a critical component.”
She added, “The current 30-hour definition not only undermines that flexibility but provides an arbitrary threshold that would inevitably lead many small business to reduce the number of hours below 30 per week. As a result, the law would inject uncertainty into their team members’ work schedules and in many instances necessitate working extra jobs to make up the income shortfall.”
If the bill is enacted, lodging employees will have more certainty about their incomes and lodging can continue driving economic growth. The AH&LA will now focus its efforts on urging the Senate to take action and pass its version of this legislation, the 40 Hours is Full-Time Act (S. 1188), introduced by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and encourage President Barack Obama to sign this change into law.
Bringing together hundreds of hotel owners, senior executives of corporate brands, management companies, independent hoteliers and general managers, the LAS attendees included nearly 300 industry members from across the country to engage in policy discussions with their industry peers and colleagues, learn the pressing legislative issues facing the lodging industry and then take their message to Capitol Hill.
“The enthusiasm among our members and taking our issues to Capitol Hill was really impressive,” said Vanessa Sinders, SVP of governmental affairs for AH&LA. “We had more attendees than last year; it was one of our highest attendances for LAS. Our members participated in 200 meetings on both sides of the Capital.”
For the past several months, the AH&LA has advocated to change the definition of a full-time employee. The association offered testimony for the record in relation to the House Ways and Means Committee’s January 2014 hearing examining the impact of the ACA employer mandate’s definition of a full-time employee.
“We asked our members to submit testimony about what the 30-hour definition meant for their business,” said Sinders. “We received an overwhelming response from about 25-30 members who responded with compelling stories of how the current definition would impact them.”
During the first day of the conference, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) presented “Congress and You: The 2014 Legislative Agenda,” which provided their insights on the potential actions of the House of Representatives and Senate for the remainder of 2014. Later that evening, Senators Mark Begich (D-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) received the association’s 2014 “Champions of the Industry” award for their strong support of the lodging industry and travel and tourism in the U.S.
One of the highlights of the conference program included a panel with three influential CEOs in the hotel industry. Christopher Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton Worldwide; Arne Sorenson, president and CEO, Marriott International, Inc.; and Ed Walter, president and CEO, Host Hotels & Resorts, shared their insights on the policy issues impacting hoteliers’ bottom line, including immigration and travel and tourism. Additionally, Kirk Kinsell, president, IHG Americas, spoke at the “Stars of the Industry” awards breakfast.
AH&LA’s LAS served the dual purpose of keeping hoteliers abreast of the constantly shifting legislative arena, while also ensuring the lodging industry maintains a strong voice in Washington. Due to the timing of this year’s LAS, industry executives were able to weigh in on the immigration debate. “It’s a challenging situation,” said Sinders. “We are going to continue beating the drum, and it remains a top priority for the industry.”
Another priority raised during LAS was the Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act as bipartisan support continues to grow. The act is stand-alone legislation that would support the U.S. economy and create jobs by enacting similar pro-travel provisions passed in the Senate immigration bill. “We continue to push forward in order to bring more international travelers to the U.S.,” said Sinders. “We have close to 150 bipartisan co-sponsors.” AH&LA members met with Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV), who introduced the bill, during LAS.
In addition to the passing of the 40-hour bill, the AH&LA praised the recent ruling by the Wyoming Supreme Court that online travel companies (OTCs) should remit sales and lodging tax on the full booking price of hotel rooms. Due to the lack of a system in place to provide tax parity, U.S. hotels have been at a competitive disadvantage with their out-of-state competitors, subjecting them to a higher effective tax rate, according to the AH&LA. The Wyoming ruling ensures that the state’s hoteliers and OTCs both remit sales and lodging taxes on the same retail rate.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Wyoming lodging industry is responsible for 11,378 jobs and $332 million in wages. As of July 2013, there were 392 lodging properties across the state, comprised of 26,381 rooms. Smith Travel Research (STR) reports that total tax revenue generated by the state’s lodging industry in 2012 was $119.8 million. Nationally, the lodging industry supports 1.8 million jobs at 52,529 properties comprised of 4.9 million rooms.