U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the introduction of the Service Worker Economic Stabilization Act, introduced by Congressmen Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA):

“This critical bill helps put business travel spending and in-person meetings on a level playing field with other legitimate business expenses while supporting small business owners and workers in America’s restaurants, theaters, arts and entertainment venues.

“Business travel spending is not expected to fully recover until 2027, and this bill will help bridge the gap by removing tax penalties on certain types of business travel spending which, according to Tourism Economics, would also increase household income for food and entertainment service workers by a total of $62 billion by 2024.

“We thank Congressmen LaHood and Panetta for their leadership on this bill and for their continued support of America’s service workers.”