83 Percent of Surveyed Economists Oppose FAST Recovery Act

Majority believe it will have a negative impact on fast-food industry growth, jobs, and price inflation

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) released a new survey reflecting labor economists’ views on the impact of the proposed Fast Food Accountability and Standards (FAST) Recovery Act in California.

Conducted August 22-24, 2022, by Dr. Lloyd Corder of CorCom, Inc., Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, the online survey was sent to a list of 658 economists. The survey was completed by 67 U.S. economists, for a response rate of 10%. Responding economists specialized primarily in labor (69%), and identified their political affiliation as Independent (56%), Democrat (18%), Republican (16%) or Other (10%).

You can view the full survey and a breakdown of findings here.

Key conclusions include:

• A strong majority of economists (83%) oppose the adoption of the FAST Recovery Act, with 71% strongly opposing.
• The majority believe the legislation will have negative consequences for fast-food restaurants, including causing operation costs to increase (93%), causing restaurants to increase prices for consumers (84%), and closing franchise restaurants (73%).
• Most (84%) agree the proposed 13-member state council to set wage and hour standards would have a negative impact on the fast-food industry’s growth in California, and 89% believe it will cause price inflation.
• Most (87%) think that if other states adopted similar laws, it would have a negative impact on the total number of jobs in the fast-food industry.

A previous study by the Employment Policies Institute, based on state data, found the fast-food restaurant industry in California is responsible for significantly fewer allegations of wage theft than other industries.

Note: Amendments introduced on Thursday evening, subsequent to the survey being conducted, would change certain provisions of the legislation. But the survey’s main findings still capture the expected effects the proposed fast-food Council would have in California and other states that follow.

Michael Saltsman, Managing Director at the Employment Policies Institute, released the following statement: “Economists agree the so-called FAST Recovery Act is a harmful policy that would have severe negative impacts on the state's fast-food restaurants. Rejecting this legislation should be an easy decision.”

Founded in 1991, the Employment Policies Institute is a non-profit research organization dedicated to studying public policy issues surrounding employment growth. In particular, EPI focuses on issues that affect entry-level employment. Learn more at EPIOnline.org