Table 301 restauranteur testifies before Senate Budget Committee

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Founder of Greenville’s Table 301 Group Carl Sobocinski testified before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee in Washington on Thursday against implementing a “Raise the Wage Act” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation calls for a 100% increase on the federal minimum wage over five years from $7.25 to $15 and the elimination of separate tip credits, according to a news release from the S.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Sobocinski, who also serves as a National Restaurant Association liaison for the S.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association, does not oppose an increase in the federal minimum wage, according to the release, but argued that a $15 minimum wage and elimination of a separate tip wage would further maim an already battered industry.

He prompted senators to consider a bill that he said would be more suited to keeping businesses open and people in jobs rather than one spurring closures and layoffs, especially as 17% of all U.S. restaurants have closed doors permanently or long term and have eliminated 2.5 million jobs from pre-coronavirus levels, according to the release.

Sobocinski testified that paying Table 301 employees $15 per hour would be a 33% increase from the $10 per hour he currently pays, which further raises the cost of payroll expenses, employer taxes, workers compensation insurance and employee benefits, the release said.

From March 2020 to January 2021, restaurant sales were down $255 billion from expected levels, according to the release.

According to the S.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association, implementation of the Raise the Wage Act would induce a predicted loss of 1.4 million more jobs with a one-in-three chance of that number rising to 2.7 million lost jobs.