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By Jenni Fink
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Angie Katsanevas from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City made history on Thursday as the first Real Housewife to testify before Congress, and Representative Hillary Scholten, a Michigan Democrat, showed she might be a fan of the show.
Katsanevas was testifying before the House Committee on Small Business about the importance of franchises for people who want to become business owners. Katsanevas' hair salon brand, Lunatic Fringe Salons, has several franchises, which she told Congress has helped women achieve their dream of owning a business and becoming financially independent.
Scholten seemed excited to have Katsanevas at the hearing, pointing out the historic nature of her presence as the first Real Housewife to testify. She noted that Katsanevas said during her testimony that she was a small business owner before joining reality television and that she talked about how the rules around franchising can be "incredibly confusing."
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"More confusing than Lisa Barlow trying to explain how she knows Ben Affleck," Scholten said. "And that's very confusing."
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Scholten's comment referenced a recent episode of RHOSLC in which the women accused Barlow of faking a work event to get out of coming on a trip. Barlow told Katsanevas she couldn't come on the RV trip because she'd be with Ben Affleck and Blake Lively.
Affleck was recently asked about whether he knew Barlow and told Access Hollywood that he didn't want to "embarrass" Barlow, but "it doesn't look familiar to me and I don't remember anything."
“I don’t wanna be the jerk who is like, ‘I did meet you.’ You don’t remember everyone you meet,” he added. “I don’t think I’m qualified to weigh in on this.”
During the hearing, Katsanevas said her passion for advocating for franchises was actually born out of a public disagreement she had with Barlow on the show. During one episode, Barlow questioned Katsanevas as a business owner because she does franchises. At the time, Barlow had a partnership with Wendy's and Katsanevas penned the line, "You do french fries. I do franchise.”
“I didn’t hesitate to defend a model that has provided so much opportunity for so many," Katsanevas said. "Franchising supports communities, neighborhoods and families.”
Katsanevas also praised President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill's "no tax on tips" change because it helped her employees and the employees of the franchises to keep more of the money they've earned.
The Real Housewives star also advocated for the passage of the American Franchise Act, which has 70 co-sponsors, and was introduced in September. The American Franchise Act, a bipartisan bill, seeks to bring stability to the franchise business model by clearly defining when a franchisor may be considered a joint employer of a franchisee’s workers.
The legislation responds to a decade of dramatic swings in federal labor policy—particularly around the National Labor Relations Board’s joint‑employer standard—which repeatedly broadened and narrowed franchisor liability and created costly uncertainty for the nation’s more than 800,000 franchise small businesses.
Under the Act, franchisors and franchisees are reaffirmed as independent employers, and franchisors would only be deemed joint employers if they exercise substantial, direct, and immediate control over core employment terms such as hiring, firing, wages, and discipline. Supporters, including the International Franchise Association, say the Act restores clarity, protects small business ownership and shields franchise systems from regulatory whiplash.
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