By a vote of 95-0, the Senate passed a measure that would offer a tax credit of up to $5,600 for hiring veterans who have been looking for a job for more than six months, as well as a $2,400 credit for veterans who are unemployed for more than four weeks, but less than six months.
The measure also provides a tax credit of up to $9,600 for hiring veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been looking for a job for more than six months.
“As the second-largest private-sector employer, America’s restaurants provide 13 million jobs nationwide,” says Scott DeFife, Executive Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs for the National Restaurant Association.
“Throughout the economic downturn, we have been one of the few industries that has continued growing, providing quality jobs that lead to fulfilling careers in our industry and others. The restaurant industry provides great opportunities for post-military culinary and management careers, as well as ownership opportunities, and with the right policies, such as small business tax assistance to hire unemployed veterans, we will be able to create even more jobs and provide greater opportunities to more Americans.”
The National Restaurant Association also has advocated for an extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which offers employers a 40 percent credit against the first $6,000 in wages paid to employees from certain groups, including veterans.
This week, the Association led a coalition of 1,500 organizations and companies calling on Congress to extend several tax provisions, including WOTC, before they expire at the end of 2011.
The Association has called these provisions “key incentives” that help spur economic growth, job creation, and job retention in the restaurant industry.
The National Restaurant Association released research showing that three-quarters of American adults say that they would be more likely to choose a restaurant that participates in a charitable program that supports U.S. military personnel, veterans and their families when dining out this Veterans Day, according to new National Restaurant Association research.
In addition, National Restaurant Association analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows that nearly 10 percent of restaurants in the United States are at least 50-percent owned by military veterans.
Veterans are majority owners of 33,864 restaurant businesses, and half-owners of 31,805 restaurant businesses, totaling nearly 65,700 restaurants total.
The states with the highest proportion of veteran-owned restaurants are Montana (23.7%), Nevada (17.9%) and Arizona (17.5%).
