News You Need to Know in Two Minutes
The News You Need to Know in Two Minutes
Weekly summary from the CRA on the latest relevant topics. Subscribe here to get email updates.
RRF grant dollars to be distributed
August 15, 2022
Thanks to a published report from the Government Accountability Office, we now know that there is still $180 million remaining in the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The Small Business Administration has agreed to distribute those dollars to restaurants, but the amount is not enough to help the many qualified applicants who never received a grant. Sabrina dives into those details in this week’s video and gives us more information about the fast-approaching Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo.
Tax relief coming for restaurants who received federal help
July 25, 2022
Because of a timing problem on the part of the federal
government, California restaurants who received a grant during
the second round of Paycheck Protection Program funding, were
about to take a big tax hit. It took quite a long fight to make
sure that doesn’t happen, but the California Restaurant
Association prevailed in that fight.
Sabrina has all the details in this week’s News You Need to Know.
You can see the full text of the relief bill here.
Employees with no restaurant experience? New online training platform caters to restaurants
July 11, 2022
Here by popular demand is the CRA’s new, easy-to-use training platform for restaurant workers and managers. This new platform is a result of feedback from CRA members, who are working harder than ever to hire, train and retain employees. It was developed for the CRA by Train 321, a leading provider of training courses for major restaurant brands, and it features helpful courses like Front-of-House Basics, Back-of-House Basics, and Bar Basics. It also includes required training in sexual harassment prevention.
REMINDER: Distribution of single-use utensils
June 27, 2022
AB 1276 took effect this year, but local jurisdictions did not have to enforce the new law until recently. It provides a statewide standard for how single-use accessories can be obtained by guests. Watch this week’s News You Need to Know for the best information on how to serve your guests and comply with the new law.
REMINDER: CalSavers deadline ahead – Get registered today
June 13, 2022
If you haven’t already registered your business through CalSavers, you can still do so. There is a deadline coming up that we’ve told you about before, but with everything that restaurants have had going on over the last two years, we thought you’d appreciate seeing this information again.
We need your help: the fight for sensible restaurant tax relief
June 6, 2022
With the state budget flush with an enormous amount of unexpected revenue, we are revising our ask of lawmakers as it relates to the unemployment insurance (UI) fund.
Instead of the initial $3 billion, the CRA is now asking the state to spend $10 billion stabilizing the UI fund. Why is this important? So that employers are not later forced to pay huge assessments for something that was beyond their control: the layoffs that resulted from a mandated closure of restaurants.
PLEASE WATCH: Responsible Beverage Service program, required by law, is ready for your servers
May 16, 2022
The Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) program is now being
offered by the CRA. The training is required under new California
law. In this week’s video, Sabrina tells us the value of the
training and all it provides, including teaching alcohol servers
how alcohol influences behavior, and how to identify signs of
intoxication.
We’re going to Washington to fight for RRF grants (again)
April 25, 2022
The CRA is leading California restaurants from the Sacramento
Valley, Central Valley, Bay Area, Central Coast, and from all
over Southern California to Washington, D.C. this week for the
National Restaurant Association’s Public Affairs Conference. You
can guess what our top issue is: speaking up for the thousands of
qualified applicants in California who got left behind when the
Restaurant Revitalization Fund ran out of dollars. The House of
Representatives has voted to replenish the fund; now, it’s up to
the Senate.
Nation’s high court considers PAGA, arbitration
April 4, 2022
As CRA members know, the notorious law known as PAGA is being
fought on at least two fronts: the effort toward a ballot
initiative in California that CRA is helping to lead, and a case
currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. So, what will the ruling
mean for California restaurants? Sabrina breaks it all down in
this week’s News You Need to Know, and tells us all the reasons
why our ballot initiative will still be needed.
New proposal improves alcohol-for-delivery options
March 14, 2022
As COVID cases have declined dramatically in California, many mask and vaccine mandates have been eased. At the same time, many consumers prefer to take their meals to go, or have them delivered. Yet, when the state allowed alcohol to be sent out with meals delivered by delivery apps, there was a key thing missing from the legislation: cocktails. Sabrina tells us more about why, and about SB 846, which aims to fix that.
California should prioritize a paydown of its unemployment insurance (UI) debt
March 7, 2022
The CRA has had early success in our work to elevate the issue of California’s massive debt that resulted from an enormous spike in unemployment payments during the COVID pandemic, but what happens next? Will state lawmakers agree with Governor Newsom that the state should begin to pay down that debt? Sabrina explains why this fight is critical to minimizing the threat of future employer assessments.
Help us replace PAGA
February 14, 2022
Getting an initiative qualified for the ballot – and then passed
by the voters – are no small tasks, but we think voters would
agree: the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) isn’t doing what
was intended, and it’s hurting a lot of people.
Your Help Needed: AB 257 moves to State Senate
February 7, 2022
AB 257, a bill that creates an unelected “government council” made up of political appointees, has passed in the State Assembly, barely receiving the number of votes it needed to move forward. If you haven’t already visited our website, https://notakeouttakeover.com/, take a moment to do so today. There, you can help make your voice heard about this bill, which targets California’s restaurants with an untold amount of new regulation. It would leave elected lawmakers with little say – if any – on new labor regulation passed by the council.
Help us get Restaurant Revitalization Fund replenished!
January 31, 2022
If you’re a restaurant that qualified for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant but didn’t get one, you’re not alone. That’s true for tens of thousands of restaurants in California and hundreds of thousands around the country. And, not surprisingly, new data shows that those who were left out of getting help from that fund are struggling, especially because of the current impacts of the omicron variant of COVID-19. You can get a clearer picture of the situation by watching Sabrina’s video, but be sure to click here to tell Congress to replenish the RRF.
Key bill gets a vote this week: Make your voice heard now
January 25, 2022
Last summer, we helped defeat AB 257, the bill that aims to
create an entirely new government entity, a “government council”
made up of unelected, unaccountable political appointees. This
council would have the authority to make labor law for
counter-service restaurants with more than 30 locations
nationwide, but proponents of this idea have already said that if
they are successful, they will expand the law throughout the
restaurant industry and to other industries as well.
CRA secures major help from Governor in budget proposal
January 17,2022
At the CRA’s urging, Governor Newsom has proposed tax fairness
for restaurants who received grants from the federal government’s
Restaurant Revitalization Fund, along with a partial paydown of
the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) debt. Neither of these
measures will be official until the state legislature passes the
governor’s budget proposal.