Two-day meet to address key hospitality industry issues.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) commenced its annual two-day Legislative Action Summit, here, today.
The focus of the Summit is to lobby Congressional leaders in regards to the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare,” as it’s commonly known), the Commercial Real Estate and Economic Development (CREED) Act, and the Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act.
Specifically, AAHOA’s Summit aims to accomplish the following three things:
- To establish legally that full-time employment requires 40 hours of work per week. As it stands now, Obamacare requires any business that employs at least 50 full-time employees to get healthcare coverage if they work a minimum of 30 hours per week, which means that business have to cover more of their employees than they would under the standard 40 hours per week, which has been the standard definition for “full-time employment” for almost 100 years.
- To support the passage of the CREED Act of 2013, which allows small businesses to refinance commercial real estate and reinvest in their businesses via the reinstatement of the Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loan program. The program ended in September of last year, but in 2012 alone, 2,700 small businesses refinanced over $7 billion in debt through the 504 loan program. Its reinstatement would not cost taxpayers any money, since it is funded entirely through the fees generated from the loans.
- To support the JOLT Act of 2013, which seeks to lower the time it takes to receive tourism-related visas and expand the Visa-Waiver Program. This allows more tourism into the United States, which would “promote job growth, generate tax revenue and boost economic development.” The VWP currently permits visitors from 37 other countries to be in the US for up to 90 days without first obtaining the necessary visa.
“AAHOA is eager to share our insights and address key issues within the hospitality industry with our legislators this week,” said AAHOA Chairman Mehul Patel, in a statement to The American Bazaar. “As the voice and largest organization of hotel owners, it is our responsibility to advocate for the rights of our members at the heart of our nation.”
Founded in 1989, AAHOA is now one of the fastest-growing organizations in the industry, with more than 12,000 members owning more than 20,000 hotels that total $128 billion in property value. AAHOA members employ 578,600 full- and part-time workers with a $9.4 billion payroll, said a press release issued by it.
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