NRA Unveils Grassroots-Based Advocacy Fund

Operators are getting a stronger voice on issues with the National Restaurant Association’s newly unveiled initiative. The Restaurant Advocacy Fund will help support and advocate on legislative and regulatory issues important to restaurants. The initiative builds on the success of the Save American Free Enterprise fund, which has raised and spent nearly $7 million since 1996 to protect the restaurant industry from harmful regulations and legislative proposals.  The association says that SAFE fund resources have been used to protect the restaurant industry and elevate its position on issues such as tax increases, labor laws such as the Employee Free Choice Act, mandatory paid sick leave, immigration reform and menu labeling.

The Restaurant Advocacy Fund will help to ensure restaurateurs’ have a voice in public policy debates on front-burner issues, including debit-card swipe fee reform, health care, restaurant depreciation, tax reform and access to credit for small businesses.

Aiding those efforts is Katie Laning Niebaum, a Capitol Hill veteran who has joined the association as director of advocacy communications. In this new position, she will lead messaging efforts to promote a policy environment that can help restaurants thrive and grow.