6
Quarter3
f e a t u r e
A
s the 148
th
came to a close in
the early hours of July 1
st
, 2015
the legislative session was
dominated with blistering education
policy debates and passage of the state’s
budget without addressing the looming
potential $160 million deficit for next
year. The DRA was actively involved in
monitoring, advocating for and educating
legislators on issues affecting the business
community and specifically lobbying on
behalf of the restaurant industry. Below
are bills directly related to restaurants.
The legislature is in recess until January,
2016. Bills not passed or defeated remain
active in the next session.
LEGISLATIVE
REVIEW
“
The real dollar value of a restaurant association far exceeds the cost of dues, even if you only consider the lobbying and
representation, which is not available from any other source. Add the many tangible benefits and restaurant association
membership can be the difference between success and failure
— Restaurant Startup and Growth Magazine
”
2015
Senator Bobby Marshall introduced SB39
during the 2015 legislative season, seeking
to increase the minimum wage in Delaware
to $10.25 and hour. While this bill was
killed in committee, it will certainly be
reintroduced during the 2016 session,
possibly even inflating the wage to $15 an
hour as we have seen on the West Coast and
now even in New York.
A 2015 poll conducted by the DRA of
over 500 registered voters in DE show
54% “strongly supporting” a minimum
wage increase to $10.10 an hour. But that
number drops dramatically when voters are
informed of the job loss that could come
with a wage hike, with strong support for
the increase falling to 23%, with 45% now
opposing an increase. For more information
about this poll and other wage issues, please
visi
“There’s a lot of rhetoric out
there on the minimum wage,
and it’s sometimes difficult to
separate what’s true from
what’s not.”
