James Leewright is a former state representative and senator from the east side of the state, and we’ve already forgiven him for that because he’s doing fantastic work as the head of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association. His official list of titles includes leadership in the ORA, Oklahoma Hospitality Foundation, Oklahoma Hotel & Lodging Association, and Oklahoma Travel Industry Association. We don’t know how he does it all either, but he’s helped push through pro-restaurant legislation and policy changes since taking over as president and CEO of the ORA. At at time when restaurants are facing one of the longest, severest crises in the hospitality industry, he’s provided thoughtful, steady and insightful leadership, and he’s raise the effectiveness of the ORA as an advocacy group and a service to their members. We’re impressed enough with their work that we joined last year as allied members because we’ve seen close up and from the stories of restaurateurs the real impact his leadership combined with the tireless efforts of his team members (s/o Collin Graham!) has meant for bar and restaurant industry.

In the episode, we cover some of the important pieces of legislation that will be on ballots this year, including a state question on minimum wage and a few pieces of legislation on credit card transaction fees. The ORA tracks hundreds of bills every year, but most never get to the level of serious consideration, so it’s important to know what’s coming so that we can all vote with the proper information to make good choices. Leewright does a great job of talking about the proposed legislation and what their potential impact could be for operators and employees.