Erie County Legislator John Mills has introduced a resolution in favor of limiting fees food delivery services like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub can collect from restaurants during a declared emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The resolution cleared the Legislature Thursday morning and supports a bill that passed the State Senate and will soon be taken up by the Assembly.

During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, bars and restaurants in Erie County have dealt with months of operating for takeout only.In December, the Minority Caucus introduced a Local Law that would cap the fees that 3^rd party food delivery apps may charge at 20 percent to provide some relief for the struggling restaurant industry. This week, a bill with the same intent has been passed by the State Senate and a companion bill is anticipated to come before the Assembly any day now (New York Lawmakers seek to rein in food delivery fees).

Legislator Mills said, “As the owner of a food distribution business in Orchard Park, I have seen firsthand how hard the past 10 months have been on our local restaurant industry and our community as a whole. During an emergency such as this, these third party services should not be able to charge bloated feestaking advantage of both restaurants and customers. I was proud to be a sponsor of our local law, I support the state legislation, and want to help our restaurants and small business community recover.”