The Association, with the excellent support of Jim Otto, our chief lobbyist, was very effective in representing your interests during the 2011 Legislative Session.  The following summary provides a review of the issues rising in the session which convened in January 2011, as well as some federal issues we have been involved with.  We will continue to work with the Legislative Committee to develop a sound strategic approach to best represent your long term interests in dealing with these issues.

State Issues

Dram Shop

"Dram Shop" refers to legislation that holds sellers/servers of alcohol liable for damage, injury, or death as a result of selling or serving an intoxicated person.  Nebraska is one of the few remaining "non dram shop" states.  Senator Carlson introduced dram shop legislation in the 2011 session.  We aggressively opposed the legislation and the Judiciary committee did not advance it to the floor of the legislature.

We will continue to work to keep the bill from advancing in the 2012 session.

Mandatory Training for Servers and Sellers of Alcohol

Senator Lathrop is very interested in making it mandatory that servers and sellers of alcohol be properly trained.  We are working with his staff and have suggested provisions that we may be able to support in this area.  These provisions include:

• Training programs be approved by the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission.
• A “train the trainer” approach be adopted requiring managers be trained and providing resources for them to train their respective staffs.
• State approved training programs would preempt city training.
• The training programs would be accessible on line and affordable.
• Training should be valid for three years and transferable from employer to employer.

Immigration

We do not believe that the “Arizona style” legislation introduced by Senator Charlie Janssen of Fremont will advance out of committee.  Senator Coash introduced legislation that would require employers to use the E-Verify system.  In light of recent supportive U.S Supreme Court action, that legislation will probably get more support in the 2012 session. We will work to insure it is not overly burdensome on restaurants.

Sales Tax

Nebraska restaurants collect and remit sales tax and receive practically nothing for this service.  The cost to restaurants is significant especially on credit card sales as the transaction fee is charged on the sales tax portion too.  We are working on legislation to address this issue.

Out of State ID cards

A Nebraska driver’s license, a Nebraska ID card, an out of state driver’s license, and a passport are legal forms of identification to prove age for the purchase of alcohol in Nebraska.  Out of state ID cards are not.  This is a concern for our members near the Nebraska boarder.  We are considering alternatives to address this issue.

Child Obesity

We anticipate that Senator Avery will introduce legislation addressing child obesity.  We are hopeful that it will not be another "toys in children's meals" bill and is something we can support as we share many of his concerns on the subject.

Occupation Taxes

In 2010, the Cities of Lincoln, Omaha, Grand Island, and Norfolk enacted occupation taxes to be collected by restaurants.  State law presently requires cities to get legislative approval to increase city sales tax but allows cities to enact and raise city occupation taxes.  We supported legislation to put control on future city occupation taxes and were successful in limiting some occupation taxes in the future but not as successful as we hoped.  Stay tuned as the Nebraska Supreme Court will soon take a stand on this issue.

Federal Issues

Health care reform has emerged as the issue of the year and we continue to work with the National Restaurant Association and our congressional delegation in an effort to modify some of the aspects of the legislation that could adversely affect our industry. The employer obligations included in the legislation passed by Congress in 2010 represent a very significant challenge and burden for restau­rateurs.  

The new health care law (a combination of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PL 111-148) and the Health and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (PL 111-152)) contains a wide range of provisions that will be implemented over the next several years, with the most significant changes taking effect in 2014.

The National Restaurant Association has established a Healthcare Knowledge Center that provides a detailed, current analysis of the legislation, answers specific questions and provides options for compliance.  This is the most accurate and up to date information available to assist you in complying with this complex legislation, and I strongly encourage you to use that excellent membership benefit.  It can be found on their website: www.restaurant.org

Interchange Fees 

We worked hard in support of the Durbin Amendment to the financial reform package.

Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson’s vote in favor was a key to getting it passed in the United States Senate.  However, Senator Ben Nelson later nearly reversed his position and came out in favor of delaying implementation to study the issue further.  In our opinion, delay really meant derail, and we are worked hard keep the original Durbin Amendment intact and implemented as scheduled. The result was a successful defense from an aggressive attempt by the banks to undo critical debit swipe fee reforms.  In the end, the effort produced a win on behalf of the broad merchant community, a win that will save restaurants, merchants, and consumers money and bring competition to a market where there previously was none.  Debit card swipe fees are now capped at no more than 12 cents per transaction rather than the previous fee structure that was as high as 2 percent of the purchase price. This means a restaurant will pay a swipe fee to the bank of a maximum of 12 cents to process a $100 debit card transaction.  Previously this fee could have been as high as $2.00. 

For more information about legislative issues, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 402.488.3999. Continue visiting
www.nebraska-dining.org for issue updates.