Capitol Hill file photo

A restaurant advocacy group and Congress worked together to pass the Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act of 2022 (H.R. 3807) through the House of Representatives. The bill will now move to a vote in the Senate.

Initially introduced in June 2021, the legislation aims to allocate $42 billion for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) and an additional $13 billion for other businesses who saw business slow during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) worked on passing the legislation.

According to an RRF report, a total of 101,004 restaurants were approved for a total of $28.5 billion in 2021, with $5.7 billion going to struggling restaurants in California.

“Independent restaurants asked and Congress listened,” said Erika Polmar, executive director of the IRC. “Today is a major step towards making restaurants and bars whole today and keeping their workers employed.”

According to Polmar, nearly 200,000 businesses have waited over a year for Congress to deliver additional financial support to help revitalize neighborhood businesses and alleviate some of the burden brought on by debts accrued during the pandemic.

“The Senate must quickly pass this bill, and provide restaurants and bars the relief they desperately need,” Polmar added.

In addition to providing much needed relief, the bill also aims to establish oversight and reporting requirements, verifying the proper use of funds. Recently, Senators Ben Cardin, (D-MD), and Roger Wicker, (R-MS), introduced the Small Business COVID Relief Act of 2022, which also aims to provide an additional $40 billion to the RRF and also provide aid to other industries impacted by the pandemic.

“Replenishing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund is about fairness,” said Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN). “Nothing has been more important to me and my team than seeing this through.”

According to a report released by the IRC, more than 80% of restaurants that did not receive RFF funds have said they are on the verge of shutting their doors – a fate that has befallen at least 90,000 restaurants since the onset of the pandemic.

In the report, the IRC found that nearly half of all restaurants not receiving RRF grants were forced to lay off workers during the Omicron surge, as opposed to just 33% of restaurants receiving RRF grants.

More than half of businesses reported a decrease in sales by more than half in December 2021.

This strain on both the financial stability of employers and employment stability for employees is why the IRC and the House of Representatives aimed to pass this bill.

“This is a great day for restaurants and bars,” said Rep. Brain Fitzpatrick (R-PA). “Independent restaurants and bars play an enormous role in our economy nationwide and our local communities and we cannot leave them behind.”