Back in June, this blog opined that a radical proposal in the California legislature known as the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Recovery Act or AB 257), would make it much harder and more expensive for restaurant owners to operate. At the time, the California Assembly had already approved the measure, and the Senate was taking it up for consideration.
Despite opposition from the business community –including the U.S. Chamber – that body passed AB 257 on August 29, albeit with some amendments, which the Assembly immediately accepted. The bill will next go to Governor Gavin Newsom – and we urge the Governor to veto this destructive legislation.
In essence, AB 257 is a proposal to micro-manage the fast-food industry with unelected bureaucrats. The bill would install 10 individuals on a “Fast Food Council” with the power to dictate various terms of employment like wages and benefits for all fast-food restaurants whose brands have more than 100 locations nationwide, regardless of whether those terms make any business sense.
A saving grace, if one can call it that, of one of the Senate amendments is that it increased the number of nationwide locations triggering coverage from 30 to 100, but that is cold comfort for the individual franchisees whose small businesses still would be upended.
In addition, according to the University of California Riverside Center for Economic...
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