Friday, February 2, 2024

Next IHLA Coffee Heads to Marshalltown 

Join your fellow hospitality operators in Marshalltown when our monthly coffee is hosted by Leo Hospitality. We will be meeting in the community’s new Chamber of Commerce Office.  

February 14, 2024 | 9 AM

Marshalltown Chamber of Commerce 

34 W Main St, Marshalltown, IA 50158

Inaugural Legislative Event Exceeds All Expectation

On Tuesday the Iowa Hotel & Lodging Association held its lunch and lobby day at the Iowa Capitol. More than 25 hoteliers from across the state attended. The delegation was able to meet with both the majority and minority leaders in both the Iowa House and Senate. Between the scheduled meetings hoteliers called on their individual legislators to share the industry’s legislative priorities. 

That evening the group hosted the Inaugural Taste of Iowa Legislative Reception in partnership with the Iowa Restaurant Association.  Nearly 1/3 of the state legislators and two statewide elected officials attended the Association’s first ever reception for lawmakers. 

Thank you to all who attended and to our event sponsors:

Swartz Insurance, Iowa Gaming Association, Centro Restaurant and Orchestrate Hospitality

This Week at the State Capitol

This week Iowa hoteliers were able to discuss their top issue— double taxation of goods required to prepare a hotel room—directly with legislators. 

Leaders in both Chambers understood the request and compared it to a fix completed for manufacturers in recent years. While a change to the tax code for hotel room preparation is currently in a standalone a bill, legislators recommended the Association lobbying team seek ways to propose the idea as part of one of the larger tax bills currently being considered. 



The IHLA lobbying team is proactively seeking avenues for an amendment. A second bill being closely followed and supported by the IHLA would update hotel inspection codes. This bill would remove the requirement of biennial inspections by the Department of Inspection and Appeals and instead codify a complaint-based model which is in line with current practice. The IHLA has registered in favor of this change.

This Week in Washington DC

This week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (H.R. 7024), which would temporarily extend a number of tax provisions that are critical to the hotel industry. Those include:

• An extension of the 100% bonus depreciation through the end of 2025. Under current law, leasehold and other qualifying interior improvements are eligible for bonus depreciation. In 2026, bonus depreciation would fall to 20% and expire after 2026.
• A retroactive, four-year extension of the taxpayer-favorable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) standard for measuring the amount of business interest deductible under section 163(j).
• A provision accelerating the deadline to file claims for the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) to January 31, 2024. With the potential closure of the program to new applicants, AHLA encourages any businesses still considering applying to do so quickly.
• A Child Tax Credit enhancement.

The AHLA and IHLA actively supported this bill which is now headed to the Senate for consideration.

The AHLA is releasing their 2024 State of the Hotel Industry report on Monday.

For 2024 the report forecasts: 

• Hotels will pay employees a record of more than $123 billion in wages, salaries, and other compensation.
• Hotels will generate a record of nearly $54.4 billion in state and local tax revenue.
• Hotels are also expected to generate a record of $29 billion in federal tax revenue.
• Average hotel occupancy is expected to reach 63.6%

If you appreciate this information, please consider joining. 

These efforts are funded by our membership. Learn more about membership here.