The 2002 Legislative Session was another successful year for the Maryland’s hospitality industry. Through the leadership of our President, in collaboration with other industry associations and leaders, MULBA was instrumental in the successful defeat of several legislative initiatives that would have negatively impacted on our businesses and thus the industry. The below synopsis is obtained from the Maryland Restaurant Association’s summation of legislative initiatives.

This bill would have repealed specified exemptions to occupational health and safety standards that allow smoking of tobacco products in bars, taverns or clubs, including bars in hotels, motels, and restaurants. Passage of this bill would have banned smoking in these locations.

This legislation would have required food service facilities to ensure that a certified food service facility manager is on staff to oversee food operations and sanitation. MULBA supports this concept only if it applies to non-profit and fraternal organizations, which are often the sources of many foodborne-illness outbreaks. After this legislation was amended to exempt fraternal organizations, MULBA opposed the bill and lobbied against it.

This measure sought to increase the State tax rates for alcohol beverages from $1.50 to $3 per gallon for distilled spirits, from 40 to 80 cents per gallon for wine, and from 9 to 18 cents per gallon for beer.

This measure would have provided for the licensing and operation of video gaming machines at specified racetrack facilities, regulated by the State Lottery Commission. MULBA has always opposed gambling because it consumes disposable income and cannibalizes existing businesses

This bill would have required the State government and specified contractors and subcontractors to pay specified employees a minimum salary known as a "living wage". This mandated wage would have been $11.77 per hour and would have cost Maryland an extra $63 million in contract costs. MULBA opposes living wage initiatives because these mandates eventually trickle down to private sector employers.

This measure would have duplicated the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act at the State level, but would have mandated at total of 12 weeks of family leave for employers with 25 or more employees, rather than the current 50-employee minimum under Federal law.

Passage of this bill would have prohibited restaurant and bar operators from refusing to serve an individual on the basis of the individual’s mode of personal transportation, facial hair or hairstyle, or manner or style dress. By making operators liable in civil action, this measure would have effectively limited the use of dress code policies.

Legislative approval of this bill would have established that voluntarily quitting employment for new and better employment constitutes good cause, and would qualify an individual for unemployment benefits if they subsequently lost the new job.

This measure sought to make the sellers of alcoholic beverages (including restaurants & bars) "civilly liable" for injuries or death to third parties as a result of the purchaser’s intoxication. In other words, restaurants and bars could have been sued for damages if an intoxicated customer subsequently killed someone in a car accident, for example.

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