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The National Restaurant Association is a restaurant industry business association in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, representing more than 380,000
restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearance ...
locations. It also operates the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The association was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.


Lobbying

The National Restaurant Association, widely referred to as "the other NRA" to distinguish itself from National Rifle Association, which shares the
initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
, is a powerful lobbying force in
Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
and in state capitals. The association advocates to retain the
minimum wage in the United States In the United States, the minimum wage is set by U.S. labor law and a range of state and local laws. The first federal minimum wage was instituted in the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roo ...
as well as laws requiring paid
sick leave Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because si ...
. In July 2013, it boasted that it had successfully lobbied against raises in the
minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
, in part or in full, in 27 of 29 states and blocked paid sick leave legislation in 12 states. It also takes credit for halting any increase in the federal minimum wage for tipped employees, which has remained at $2.13 per hour since 1991. (The federal "basic combined cash & tip minimum wage rate" is $7.25 per hour). The NRA supported the Fighting Hunger Incentive Act of 2014 (H.R. 4719; 113th Congress), a bill that would amend the
Internal Revenue Code The Internal Revenue Code (IRC), formally the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, is the domestic portion of federal statutory tax law in the United States, published in various volumes of the United States Statutes at Large, and separately as Title 26 ...
to make permanent extend and to expand certain expired provisions that provided an enhanced tax deduction for businesses that donated their food
inventory Inventory (American English) or stock (British English) refers to the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying the sha ...
to
charitable organizations A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...
. The NRA argued that "the deduction for charitable donation of food inventory is a critical tool in alleviating hunger" because it "encourages donating the food to charity, by helping to offset the costs associated with preserving, storing and transporting the extra food." The NRA opposed the
National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...
's joint employer standard, but was unable to affect a change in legislation repealing the standard.


Other programs

The National Restaurant Association develops food safety training and certification program for restaurant employees. It also offers scholarships to foodservice and hospitality management and culinary students through NRAEF, and it runs a national program for high school students. The NRA also presents a series of awards, including the Faces of Diversity, the American Dream Awards, and the Restaurant Neighbor Award. It runs an annual restaurant and hospitality industry trade show in the US, in Chicago, and conducts research about the country's restaurant industry. For instance, it states that the restaurant industry in the US and is growing rapidly and now employs 12.9 million Americans in 970,000 locations, with sales in 2012 expected to reach $632 billion. The National Restaurant Association also helps restaurant owners increase their environmental sustainability efforts. The National Restaurant Association teamed up with Healthy Dining to launch Kids LiveWell, a program that helps restaurants increase healthful options on kids' menus and makes it easy for parents to find those options when dining out. The association works closely with its state restaurant and hospitality association partners and provides its members with tools and solutions to improve their business. It also organizes conferences and networking events for its members. There are six membership categories: Restaurant, Allied, Faculty, Student, Nonprofit, and International. The association lobbies for the restaurant and foodservice industry and represents the industry on
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
. It was the largest food and beverage political action committee contributor to both the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties in the 2004 election cycle. The association is actively opposing the lowering of the federal
blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume or mass of blood. For example ...
limit from .08% to .05% In May 2010 the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation with 16 major food companies, including Mars Inc.,
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlan ...
, and
General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...
, with the aim of removing 1.5 trillion calories from consumers and the food chain. The goal was surpassed with 6.4 trillion calories removed instead (four times the amount).


Notable people

* Biff Naylor, past president * Dawn Sweeney, president and chief executive officer, 2007–2019 * Doron Jensen, past president of the Minnesota Restaurant Association, 2000–2001 *
Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...
, president, 1996–1999Cain, Herman
This Is Herman Cain!: My Journey to the White House
Appendix B (2011)
* Marvin Irby, interim CEO, 2020–present * Ransom M. Callicott, association president, 1949 * Richard Brennan, Sr., board member, affiliated with
Brennan Family Restaurants The Brennan Family Restaurants are a group of restaurants owned or operated by family members of the late Owen Brennan (restaurateur), Owen Brennan of New Orleans, Louisiana. In the 1970s, there was a Brennan's Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. L ...
, based in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Victor Rosellini (1915–2003), past president


See also

*
National Registry of Food Safety Professionals National Registry of Food Safety Professionals (NRFSP) is a food safety certification for the restaurant, hotel, and quick service industry business administered by Environmental Health Testing. NRFSP was founded in 1998 through partnerships betwe ...


References


External links


National Restaurant Association website
{{authority control 1919 establishments in the United States Food and drink in the United States Food industry trade groups Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Organizations established in 1919