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What do others say about the MRA’s influence in the Capitol? 


Here are some of the top MRA legislative victories …  

• Successfully defeated numerous proposals to hike the liquor tax and liquor license fees – including a 2009 proposal – and create a state death tax. Each proposal would cost restaurants and other small businesses tremendous amounts of money in new taxes and fees – at a time when they can be least afforded.
• Successfully helped pass legislation which phases-out the inclusion of sales tax from the base of the Michigan Business Tax, which will end this tax-on-a-tax.
• Successfully supported legislation that stopped an unemployment tax hike for about 40,000 Michigan employers whose laid-off workers were drawing more in benefits than the company has paid into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The increase would have been about $67 per employee.
• Successfully passed legislation requiring all schools to wait to start their school year until after Labor Day and we successfully defended this law in 2009 when several lawmakers tried to repeal it.
• Successfully passed legislation putting a stop to frivolous lawsuits against restaurants brought by individuals with obesity problems who are looking to avoid personal responsibility.
• Successfully passed legislation allowing restaurant guests to take home unfinished bottles of wine they purchased with their meals.
• Successfully passed legislation allowing liquor licensees to remain open past 2am to provide entertainment options for guests and increase sales.
• Successfully defeated a proposal which would have ended the ability of a restaurateur to deliver beer and wine for off-site catered events using a SDM liquor license.
• Successfully passed legislation which ends the requirement that unused funds from gift certificates and gift cards get turned over to the state as unclaimed property in exchange for some new regulations on the issuance and use of gift certificates and gift cards.
• Successfully supported legislation providing a significant increase in state funding of Michigan tourism for a two-year period. Studies show that for every dollar spent on an effective tourism promotion program, about three dollars in new tax revenues are produced for the state. Efforts continue on a more permanent source of funds for tourism promotion.
• Successfully passed an update to the Michigan Food Law simplifying the menu consumer advisory requirement. This took effect April 2008.
• Successfully defeated a proposed state law and a proposed Oakland County ordinance, both of which would have banned the use of trans fats in restaurants, which would have created a number of problems for restaurateurs in the area of supply, prices and being out of step with the rest of the country.
• Successfully passed legislation which would exempt exhibitors at the annual Michigan Restaurant Show from having to obtain temporary health licenses for the preparation and sampling of food.
• Successfully passed a permanent extension of the resort liquor license program.
• Successfully put an end to unemployment tax dodging without placing new paperwork and fee burdens on Michigan restaurants.
• Successfully defeated attempts to hike the minimum payroll wage for tipped employees as well as an attempt to completely eliminate the tip credit altogether. However, this proposal comes back year after year and will no doubt be seen again … soon.
• Successfully passed legislation creating a youth minimum wage below the state minimum wage. This allows employers to pay a minimum wage of 85 percent of the state wage to employees who are 16 or 17 years of age.
• Successfully amended the smoking ban legislation by making sure that enforcement focuses on the smoking patron – not the establishment – by continuing the current prohibition on local smoking ordinances affecting restaurants and taverns, and by making sure individuals will not have the ability to bring frivolous civil lawsuits against establishments.
• Successfully passed legislation creating a state earned income tax credit.
• Successfully created a new vertical driver license for minors that can easily be identified by servers and clerks.
• Successfully supported the creation of two new state Lottery games called “Club Games” to increase customer enjoyment at Class C licensed liquor service establishments. Members can call the MRA for information on “Club Keno” and “Pull Tabs” games.
• Successfully repealed a rule that prohibited the display of illuminated signs advertising alcoholic beverage brands. MRA was the only organization that initiated and encouraged the action of the Michigan Attorney General to throw this rule out.
• Successfully defeated a bill allowing Detroit to levy a restaurant sales tax.
• Successfully passed a bill bringing Kent County in line with the rest of the state to allow the transfer of an escrowed on-premises liquor license within the county.
• Successfully ensured the new drunk driving standard did not drop below .08 or create a new impairment standard below .08, which would have criminalized responsible social drinkers.
• Successfully helped pass legislation creating a new “high BAC” drunk driving penalty to go after the true source of the drunk driving problem, while not criminalizing responsible social drinkers.
• Successfully defeated an Ingham County proposal that would have required all restaurants to put up posters with the contact information for the health department for when guests became sick.
• Successfully defeated a Ferndale proposal that sought to allow law enforcement officers to use alcohol breath tests on customers while they were still in a restaurant or bar.
• Successfully overturned a Marquette ordinance that sought to ban smoking in restaurants. The Michigan Supreme Court upheld a Court of Appeals ruling in our members’ favor.
• Successfully provided uniformity of alcohol sales times on Sundays for four counties in the Upper Peninsula. These counties are located in the central time zone and, on Sundays, are less able to compete for customers who can simply cross the state border into Wisconsin, which has less restrictive Sunday sales laws.
• Successfully supported a new state law disallowing the admissibility of blood-alcohol content tests conducted in a licensed establishment to be used to prove the establishment illegally served a visibly intoxicated person. This change clarifies the state prohibition on serving visibly intoxicated persons.

… and here’s what MRA successfully got through the Legislature, only to be vetoed by the governor

• Governor Granholm twice vetoed an MRA-supported bipartisan youth employment reform bill that extends the hours that sixteen and seventeen year-olds can work, allowing them to work up to a flat number of hours per week while they are in school, and getting rid of the current confusing system that sets the maximum number of hours on a district-by-district basis. The bill had strong bipartisan support and even had the support of the Michigan Education Association.
• Governor Granholm vetoed an MRA-supported bill prohibiting townships, cities and counties from enacting local minimum wage laws.J The minimum wage is a state issue – not a local one – and legislation should be passed that bans local minimum wage ordinances. Despite their burdensome effect on job growth, the governor vetoed the bill and allowed the problem to continue to worsen.
• Governor Granholm killed an MRA-supported bill which would have ended the state tax on employer-provided health care. Under the SBT, if an employer provides health care to employees, the employer-paid costs are included in the employer’s SBT base as “payroll.” In other words, if you provide health care to employees, you are taxed for it. The bill would have ended this tax.
• Governor Granholm vetoed MRA-supported language multiple times that would have prohibited the development of a statewide mandatory workplace ergonomic standard enforced by MIOSHA. A mandatory ergonomic standard – currently under development by the Granholm administration – would be among the most complex, confusing and costly regulatory burdens placed on the backs of Michigan employers. Additionally, Michigan would be only the second state in the country to have this mandate – California being the other – and it would be much tougher than California’s.
• Governor Granholm vetoed an MRA-supported bill allowing Class C liquor licensees to obtain a special permit to provide beer, wine and spirits at catered events. The bill provided a common-sense and customer-friendly one-stop-shopping option for those seeking catering services that include providing of alcoholic beverages.
• Governor Granholm vetoed an MRA-supported bipartisan MIOSHA reform bill that gives business owners greater understanding and certainty of what constitutes a “willful” violation of workplace safety standards. Currently, there is no statutory definition of what a “willful” violation is as it is left up to state bureaucrats to decide. As many business owners know, a “willful” MIOSHA violation on their record could have significant negative effects on their operations. The bill also contained language prohibiting the Granholm administration from pursuing a mandatory statewide workplace ergonomic standard, which would be very costly for restaurant owners.

Revised May 2010