WASHINGTON, DC – Today US Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Chair of the Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion Subcommittee, held a hearing in support of US tourism, hospitality and small business workers. Witnesses – including D. Taylor, UNITE HERE International President; Shaundell Newsome, chairman of the City Chamber of Commerce, Las Vegas; Bill Lupfer, President and CEO of the Florida Attractions Association;; and Drew Daly, senior Vice President of Dream Vacations World Travel Holdings – – gave an insight into the challenges faced by the tourism and hospitality industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing also examined the regional impact of COVID-19 on communities that depend on tourism and hospitality workers, as well as Congress’s efforts to assist workers and small businesses in reopening and recovering those industries. A transcript of the Senator’s full exchange can be found below, and a video of the Senator’s full exchange can be found Here.

ROSES: Over the past year, small businesses in Nevada – especially those whose customers depend on our tourism and hospitality industries – have struggled to keep their doors open due to COVID-19.

In response, Congress passed numerous small business support programs. [including] the Paycheck Protection Program; the Restaurant Revitalization Fund; These helped small businesses stay afloat and keep their workers on the payroll.

Unfortunately, PPP ran out of funds on May 4th and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund stopped accepting new applications just yesterday. Because the hospitality and tourism industries are recovering more slowly than other industries, additional limited, targeted relief may be required until business and leisure travelers, both in the US and abroad, have confidence to travel again.

Mr. Newsome, as the tourism and hospitality industries are slowly recovering from the economic impact of the public health crisis, what additional support should Congress offer our small businesses and what investments do you think we could make more generally? We want a healthy economy and we want to support whatever you are working on.

NEWSOME: Thank you Senator Rosen. One of the things that I think is very important is to keep providing small and minority businesses access to capital as we know that this has been a systematic challenge for most of our minority businesses. We found it was very, very difficult to get access to capital. Opening up CDFIs and developing alternative credit resources have been very, very beneficial for small businesses.

The other thing is broadband. As you know, we have a lot of rural businesses in Nevada and they really have a challenge with some of those Zoom calls and different ways to do business online. I think that’s extremely important. The other thing I mentioned was childcare. I know that very much

My employees and people who are members of the Chamber; You weren’t just challenged to get back to work. Many employees were challenged not only with financing from a package or out of unemployment. But many of them have had problems with childcare and what they do with their children to keep them safe.

Let’s say these are vital – especially for small businesses – keep finding the small business development centers and continuing to fund the resources that will help small business owners become better operators of their businesses.

I was fortunate enough to spend time in the military. I’ve been fortunate and blessed to work in gaming and hospitality, and I’ve learned a lot from those industries. Not everyone has this opportunity so I think this is a great opportunity there. And the last thing I’m going to say – it really matters – is the cost of health care. It is really important that we give small businesses the ability to provide affordable health care for their employees, to bear the costs, and to ensure that we don’t spend all of our money on health care where we should be doing most of the money for our employees and help to provide better service to our customers and our customers.

I think what is important is not to forget about small businesses. Small businesses are the backbone of this country. We get people back to work faster, we do a lot. So we appreciate what happened, but there is much more to be done. Many Thanks.

ROSES: Well that’s a good transition. Thank you Mr. Taylor, because earlier this year Senator Cortez Masto and I worked diligently with the American rescue plan to ensure that 100% of COBRA insurance was covered during the pandemic. People lost their jobs through no fault of their own, and we really made sure of that.

We knew how important it was to our culinary workers union. To all of our union members and only to the workers in this country. So just a few more seconds. We’re going into a second round, of course. Can you talk about the impact that fully subsidized COBRA health benefits have had on your members in the hospitality and tourism industries?

TAYLOR: Yes, Senator Rosen. I think this is one of the cornerstones that made people survive. With a 100% COBRA grant, members can get health insurance again. In our industry, basically hospitality, only 23% of employers continue to offer healthcare services. In the middle of a health pandemic, we had people who lost health care. So this was a big plus in the American rescue plan. We are now enrolling people. It’s for six months.

And bluntly, having foreseen what Congress can do, even when people return to work, they often have to re-qualify for health care. […] Just when we were shut down in the middle of a health pandemic, we had people who lost health care. That doesn’t just seem to contradict the reason. I can’t think of anything more powerful that falls under the American rescue plan than the 100% COBRA subsidy.

ROSES: Thank you very much, Mr. Taylor. Senator Cortez Masto and I were happy to be working on it.

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