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June 18, 2025

Congress Recognizes World Franchise Day

Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a resolution in Congress officially commemorating June 11 as “World Franchise Day” for the first time ever. In conjunction with the global observance declared by the World Franchise Council, the resolution celebrates the economic and social contributions of the franchise business model.

Why it matters: Led by U.S. Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Chris Coons (D-DE) in the Senate and U.S. Reps. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), Troy Carter (D-LA), Kevin Hern (R-OK), and Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) in the House, the resolution touts how franchising dates back to economic pioneers like Benjamin Franklin and Isaac Singer and is used by more than 800,000 American business units today.

Our thought bubble: World Franchise Day is a powerful reminder of the franchise model’s unparalleled ability to create opportunity, and you are encouraged to join IFA in Washington to advocate for your business at the 2025 IFA Advocacy Summit. Registration now open!

IFA Members Urge Tax Relief

In a must read op-ed for the Detroit News, Randy Cross, President of Fish Window Cleaning and IFA board member, outlined three concrete ways Congress can help the franchise community, including: 

1. Making the small business provisions within the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent, particularly the Section 199A deduction
2. Eliminating the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)
3. Passing legislation codifying the joint employer standard

Zoom out: Earlier this spring, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the tax bill entitled the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” legislation that included key IFA-supported tax priorities for franchise businesses like making the passthrough deduction permanent.

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House Highlights NLRB Overreaches

On June 11, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on the harmful policies out of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on franchising and other business models. 

Dig deeper: Titled "Restoring Balance: Ensuring Fairness and Transparency at the NLRB," Republican lawmakers—such as Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA)—criticized the NLRB for regulatory overreach, with Allen specifically pointing to a final rule that, "establish[es] a broader standard to determine the existence of a joint employer relationship, threatening the franchise model and other business relationships."

Why it matters: More than four months into the second Trump Administration, the NLRB lacks a quorum and is unable to revisit prior policies that are out of line with this administration’s priorities.

Treasury Secretary Highlights Franchise Priorities

Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified before both the Senate Financial Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee last week on the tax proposals on the budget reconciliation legislation better known as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” 

Zoom In: In the Ways and Means Committee hearing, Secretary Bessent emphasized the impact of Section 199A, specifically focusing on the permanency and security it can provide for small businesses.

Zoom out: Section 199A was included in the IFA’s 2025 Roadmap for Small Business Growth and also emphasized by IFA President and CEO Matt Haller in a Fox News op-ed about the IFA’s policy goals. IFA will continue working alongside lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on the importance of 199A and other key franchise priorities.

Senate Passes GENIUS Act

On June 17, the U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act, a bipartisan and IFA-supported bill to provide first-of-its-kind federal regulation for digital payments known as stablecoins.  

Dig deeper: U.S. Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) had plans to introduce the IFA-supported Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) to lower transaction costs for franchisees, but the bipartisan amendment was not considered.

Why it matters: There is still an opportunity to encourage lawmakers to consider the CCCA - click HERE on our partner coalition Merchants Payments Coalition site to write your senators to support the Credit Card Competition Act.