MAY 23, 2020
General Assembly Expected to Pass Gaming Bill Allowing for Chicago Casino

Tonight, the Illinois House passed a measure that would change the tax structure to allow for a Chicago casino that legislators hope will pump revenue toward the state’s capital projects and the city’s desperately underfunded police and fire pensions.
 
The bill is expected to pass the Senate later this evening and then head to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law. 

The IRA supports gaming throughout the state and its expansion into Chicago.

The measure was pushed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has called it essential to helping the pension funds.
 
Read more from Chicago Sun-Times and Capitol Fax .
General Assembly Passes Legislation to Allow Cocktails/Mixed Drinks To Go

This evening, the Illinois Senate and House voted to pass legislation introduced by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz and Rep. Mike Zalewski that will allow restaurants and bars to sell cocktails/mixed drinks to go in Illinois. The bill now heads to Governor’s desk for approval. 
 
The IRA commends the General Assembly for passing this pragmatic legislation that will benefit the hospitality industry across the state. We especially thank Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, Rep . Lindsey LaPointe, Rep. Michael Zalewski, Rep. Ann Williams, and Rep. Kelly Cassidy for their advocacy on this issue. 

Additionally, the legislation would:

  • Authorize the deferral of liquor license fees for a specified period
  • Provide that the renewal of the liquor license shall be automatically approved and the license shall be extended for a specified period.
  • Provide that a retail licensee shall not be deemed to be delinquent in payment until 30 days after the date on which the region in which the retail licensee is located enters Phase 4 of the Governor's Restore Illinois Plan as issued on May 5, 2020.

This legislation is the result of a groundswell of support generated by the Cocktails for Hope campaign founded by IRA member Julia Momose of Kumiko, as well as hundreds of IRA members that pushed for this legislative change.

Click here to read the full bill.
IRA PPE and Reopening Resource Guide Now Live
The IRA has launched a premier resource base of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and reopening services for restaurants, including: hand sanitizer, face coverings, gloves, cleaning and sanitizing supplies, plexiglass, menus, floor markers, signs, and more.

Click here to let us know if you would like to join the IRA’s PPE resource page and offer PPE materials and equipment to restaurants and bars throughout Illinois. Companies must be current IRA Associate members in order to be featured. Contact Emilee Lyons for more information on listing your company.
Interim Final Rule Issued on PPP Loan Forgiveness

Last night’s loan forgiveness guidance interim final rule (IFR) from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Department of Treasury reaffirms the IRA and National Restaurant Association's commitment to bipartisan legislation from Congress to fix the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The IFR did not 1) extend the eight-week covered period for forgivable PPP loans, 2) adjust the 25% limit on non-payroll expenses that are forgivable, nor 3) address the two-year loan terms for those PPP loan amounts that are not forgiven.

We are also identifying another issue that may be problematic for restaurants. In cases when an employee declines an employer’s rehire offer, the employer has previously been granted de minimis exemptions from PPP loan forgiveness reductions. However, the IFR requires employers to inform the State Unemployment Insurance agency of the employee’s “rejected offer of reemployment within 30 days” of the rejection (pages 14 – 15). This may be a significant new challenge for employers that must manage new forms for their respective state reports, document and transmit these reports to achieve loan forgiveness, all while maintaining relationships with former employees. At an undisclosed time, the SBA will detail how borrowers will report information concerning rejected rehire offers to state unemployment insurance offices.

The IFR clarified that a full-time equivalent (FTE) employee is one who works 40 hours or more, on average, each week (pages 16 – 18). For forgivable payroll expenses, there are also two options to include part-time employees within an FTE count: one that calculates a ratio from 40 hours (30 hours worked would represent 0.75 FTE) and a second that allows each part-time employee to be counted as 0.5 FTE.

The National Restaurant Association plans to comment on this IFR.
License Fee Refund Ordinance Introduced in Chicago City Council

Alderman Matt O'Shea (19th) has introduced an ordinance that authorizes certain businesses that paid licensing fees to the City under the licensing code to petition the Business Affairs & Consumer Protection department for a refund of the license fees it paid during the time it could not operate.

Businesses could apply within 60 days after the expiration of the Mayor's Executive Order 2020-1. Eligible businesses are those that paid for a business license and did not operate for 30 or more days due to COVID-19 because the business was ordered to close by a gubernatorial order as a non-essential business or was forced to close because of the number of employees sick with COVlD-19.

Click here to read the ordinance.
Please  visit our website  for the latest COVID-19 updates, in addition to the above resources and information for your business. Updated as of 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 23.