PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Sarah Bratko, Vice President & Policy Counsel of American Hotel And Lodging Association (AHLA) on Intro 991-B
1:24:44
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107 sec
Sarah Bratko from the American Hotel And Lodging Association (AHLA) expresses concerns about Intro 991-B, acknowledging improvements in version B but stating it would still have devastating impacts on the lodging industry and small businesses in New York City. She argues for alternative ways to achieve health and safety goals without harming hotel operations.
- Bratko questions the ban on subcontractors, suggesting instead that subcontractors could be licensed and required to follow the same health and safety standards as hotels.
- She emphasizes that the hotel industry has not opposed actual health and safety measures in the bill, such as compliance with human trafficking laws and implementation of panic buttons.
- AHLA urges the city council to scale back the bill to create a simple licensing system, and expresses willingness to continue discussions with the council.
Sarah Bratko
1:24:44
My name is Sarah Braco.
1:24:45
I'm with the American Hotel And Lodging Association.
1:24:48
AHLA represents all segments of the lodging industry, including brands, owners, management companies, and other businesses that provide support to the industry.
1:24:56
Hotel industry takes our responsibility to the health and safety of our employees and guests incredibly seriously.
1:25:02
And if there are challenges and issues, we want to make sure that we're not only part of that conversation, but part of the solution.
1:25:08
We want to thank counsel and men in for meeting with us several times and want to also acknowledge that version b of this legislation has made significant changes to address the industry concerns.
1:25:17
However, this version will still have devastating impacts on the lodging industry and small businesses in New York.
1:25:23
While there have been has been significant dialogue about this bill, the hotel industry has never really opposed any of the actual health and safety measures that are included in this, particularly compliance with mandate and compliance with the state human trafficking law that we wrote in 2022 and the implementation of panic buttons.
1:25:40
If the true intent of the legislation is to standardize health and safety measures, there are several alternative ways to achieve this goal without making it illegal for many New York City businesses to even operate and causing irreparable harm to countless New York City hotels.
1:25:55
Why does this legislation arbitrarily banned the total use of subcontractors instead of simply mandating that any subcontractors working in the hotel have to be licensed and follow the same health and safety requirements of hotels.
1:26:07
There's really zero evidence that shows that hotels at use of contractors have lower health and safety standards.
1:26:12
All this bill does is make it illegal for small businesses to actually operate.
1:26:16
We urge the city council to scale back this bill and create what you have always said this is about is a simple licensing bill.
1:26:23
And we'd be happy to answer any questions and continue engaged with conversations with the sponsor and other members of the council on this bill.
