Resolution 210304

..Title Council calls on The Pennsylvania State Senate and House of Representatives to grant Philadelphia the ability to provide needed regulatory relief to local bars, restaurants, and other liquor licensees. Regulatory relief in the form of extended bar hours and increased happy hours will allow establishments hit hard by state and local coronavirus related closures and capacity restrictions to make a full recovery and preserve thousands of local jobs. ..Body WHEREAS; According to a 2019 report by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia 79,000 people were employed in food related jobs including 46,000 in the hospitality sector, accounting for 59% of all food sector jobs and 1 in every 20 jobs in the City; and WHEREAS; The shutdowns and capacity restrictions put in place to slow the spread of coronavirus saw job losses as high as 81% in the hospitality sectors across the country and Philadelphia mirrored those national trends; and WHEREAS; Nationally the hospitality sector saw a twenty two percent decline in employment in 2020, a loss of over 3 million jobs from the year prior; and WHEREAS; The hospitality sector employees are heavily female and more likely than not to be younger and from racial and ethnic minority communities according to research from the Penn Wharton Budget Model in 2020; and WHEREAS: The Arts and Culture Task Force highlighted Philadelphia's historic under performance in the nighttime economy and recommended that the sector could be more of an amenity and tax base for the City than it currently is; and WHEREAS; Philadelphia uses tax revenue from the liquor by the drink tax, the amusement tax, and several other taxes that liquor licensees pay to fund education, public safety, and a range of other essential services; and WHEREAS; Nightlife and places to socialize are community amenities and anchor commercial corridors, Center City and neighborhoods across the City; and WHEREAS; If Philadelphia is to recover as a vibrant business and cultural hub in the Commonwealth it will need the revenue, employment, and amenities that the nighttime economy provide; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council calls on The Pennsylvania State Senate and House of Representatives to grant Philadelphia the ability to provide needed regulatory relief to local bars, restaurants, and other liquor licensees. Regulatory relief in the form of extended bar hours and increased happy hours will allow establishments hit hard by state and local coronavirus related closures and capacity restrictions to make a full recovery and preserve thousands of local jobs. ..End