Washington, D.C. – Today, the Save Local Restaurants Coalition, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Restaurant Association, and the International Franchise Association, announced it has gathered enough signatures for a referendum on the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Act) on the November 2024 ballot. Once the California Secretary of State has verified the Coalition has submitted the needed number of signatures, implementation of the law will be on hold until the vote.
“The Chamber is proud to be a leader in giving voters a chance to weigh in on this harmful legislation,” said Glenn Spencer, Senior Vice President for Employment Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “With over a million signatures submitted for a referendum, it’s clear that voters agree this law is bad for California and bad for America. It will stifle job growth and increase quick service prices an estimated 20 percent at a time when families are facing record-high inflation. Even worse, labor organizations supporting the FAST Act have made it clear they don’t intend to stop with California or quick service restaurants but will seek to impose a regulatory regime where government-created boards control how small businesses around the country operate. We know that cannot and will not ever work for American businesses, their employees, and their customers.”
In September, the U.S. Chamber joined the Save Local Restaurants coalition of California small business owners, restaurant owners, franchisees, employees, consumers, and community-based organizations in an effort to give voters the opportunity to protect Californians and local business owners from the damaging impacts of the FAST Act.
The FAST Act creates a council of unelected political appointees to set industry-specific wages and regulations in the counter-service restaurant industry. The rules promulgated by the council have the ability to override the California legislature and other state agencies charged with upholding public health and labor laws.
