Contact Governor Northam and ask him to roll back taxes on hospitality businesses and employer mandates
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is inflicting monumental devastation on restaurants, lodging, and attractions across Virginia, the United States, and the globe. With the ever increasing declines in patrons as a result of virus and government imposed restrictions pertaining to COVID-19, hospitality related businesses face a difficult recovery once the public health crisis is brought under control. An overwhelming number of hospitality jobs and businesses have been lost as a result of regulations imposed to combat the COVID-19 crisis.
While the hospitality and tourism industry understands that certain measures need to be taken to combat this pandemic, relief from legislation that was passed in the 2020 General Assembly session should be at the forefront of the Governor's mind. For this reason, we need the Governor to either veto or significantly amend to add reenactment clauses and delay the implementation timeline. There are four major issues that the Governor needs to take action to provide breathing room for restaurants, lodging establishments, and attractions so they can truly recover and contribute to a vibrant Virginia economy.
The following legislation needs to be vetoed or amended by the Governor:
- HB395/ SB7: Increase the minimum wage to $15
- SB588: Equalizes taxing authority between cities and counties thereby removing limitations on meals, lodging, and admissions taxes
- HB1726/ SB1038: Imposes a regional lodging tax in Hampton Roads to fund public transit
- HB1414/ SB890: Increases the regional lodging tax in Northern Virginia to fund public transportation
The hospitality and tourism industry is made up of many small and medium businesses. In order to ensure Virginia can fully recover from the economic destruction brought about by COVID-19 crisis, these new mandates and taxes must be either vetoed or significantly delayed.
We urge you to contact Governor Northam and urge him to oppose the bills listed above. Not only will this help businesses to recover quicker from this crisis, it will help the state to recover rebound in a more expedient manner as restaurants, lodging establishments, and attractions will be contributing to Virginia’s tax base.
We need you to contact the governor NOW to ask him to veto or amend these measures.
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