Delivery Consent Bill, Scholarship Opportunities, Chicago Returns Week

Join the Party Next Week at Chef's Table

Don't miss your last chance for tickets to the 2022 Chef's Table benefiting the IRA Educational Foundation on Thursday, April 21 at Theater on the Lake. Come join us and party the night away with tasting stations from 25+ restaurants from every corner of Chicago, drinks, dancing, silent auction, and more. Click here to purchase tickets.

Consent/Agreement Required for Delivery Legislation Passes House and Senate

The IRA is pleased to announce that we have successfully passed legislation in the Illinois General Assembly that will prohibit third party delivery services from delivering a restaurant's food - or using their name or likeness - without the restaurant's consent and an agreement in place. The legislation also prohibits third party delivery services from requiring clauses in their restaurant contracts that indemnify third party delivery services for any harm caused by their drivers.

We thank Senator Sara Feigenholtz (6th) for her leadership on this issue, and appreciate all our members that have shared valuable input on third party delivery services, especially our delivery services subcommittee members. 

This legislation will help to protect restaurants and ensure they maintain control over their food, brands, pricing, and more.

Click here to read the bill. The bill has not yet been sent to the Governor's desk. We will provide updates when they are available.

IRAEF Scholarship Applications Available Until May 2

The 2022-2023 IRAEF Scholarship application is open now until Monday, May 2. If you know an aspiring culinary or hospitality student pursuing their post-secondary education, be sure to encourage them to apply!

Since its inception, the IRAEF has awarded over $3 million to deserving students pursuing Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management in post-secondary degrees. 

Qualifications to apply include:

• Permanent resident of Illinois
• Accepted or plan to apply to an accredited culinary or hospitality school, college or university
• Enrolled as a full-time or substantial part-tie student, taking a minimum of 9 credit hours each term
• Major is or will be culinary, restaurant management, foodservice or another related program

Click here to apply. Contact info@illinoisrestaurants.org with any questions.

Celebrate Chicago Returns Week May 2 - May 6

The IRA is excited to be a partner of Chicago Returns Week, coming May 2 through May 6.

Chicago Returns Week focuses on opportunities to collaborate and reconnect with one another as we return downtown and to the office. Our goal in celebrating “The Great Return” is to honor employers and employees who have returned to the office in addition to supporting our downtown businesses.

Building owners across the Central Business District will be celebrating Chicago Returns Week with special events for tenants and related promotions including signage, social media, and lighting up the sky blue at night. 

We encourage you to also participate in Chicago Returns Week! Here are some ways you help promote a return to office and downtown:

• Download Chicago Returns Week signage and display in your workplace. 
• Join the social media campaign and make sure to tag #chicagoreturns to be eligible for prize giveaways (make sure to share with your employees and customers).
• Plan an in-store promotion and use signage to promote.

You can find more information on the Chicago Returns website and access downloadable signage, images, and marketing files in the Chicago Returns Week Toolkit. 

ICYMI - $50M for Restaurant Grants Included in State Budget

In case you missed it last week - we are pleased to report that the IRA has successfully secured $50 million in dedicated grants for restaurants in the state budget passed last weekend. A huge thanks to everyone that engaged in the IRA's call to action, met with legislators, and shared your stories to push for this enhanced financial support for restaurants and their employees.

Click here to read a breakdown of the grant program and eligibility.

Click here to read the legislation. The framework of the Restaurant Employment and Stabilization Grant Program can be found on pages 42-45.

The IRA will work in the coming weeks with state officials to ensure the rules and application procedures for this program are rolled out in a streamlined and timely manner.

Spring Board Meeting Recap

Yesterday, the IRA held its Spring Board of Directors meeting at Esquire by Cooper's Hawk.
Thank you to IRA Advisory Council member Jason Plutz of Cooper's Hawk for hosting the meeting, and Rep. Mike Zalewski (23rd) for joining us to provide an update from Springfield.

The IRA's Summer Board of Directors meeting will be held Wednesday, July 20.

IDPH Adopts New Federal Guidelines for COVID-19 Tracking

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is adopting new federal guidelines for tracking COVID-19 at the community level. The new CDC guidelines emphasize the case rate and hospitalizations in order to better track the prevalence of COVID-19 in communities. As a result of these new guidelines, testing providers will no longer be required to report some negative tests and IDPH will therefore no longer report test and case positivity.

The changes adopted by the CDC mean that states will no longer be required to report negative antigen test (rapid test) results – and are only required to report negative PCR and NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) results that were performed in certified labs. In addition, the widespread use of at-home tests means that national testing data is not as comprehensive or representative of population-based testing as it was before the introduction of at-home tests.

Click here to read the announcement.