U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) on Sept. 24 endorsed bipartisan legislation that would authorize a $120 billion stabilization grant program for independent restaurants suffering financially from closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Congress has a responsibility to step in and support small restaurants,” Rep. Stivers said, “particularly those in underserved areas who have continued to work for their neighbors, through this unprecedented crisis.”
The congressman joined more than 200 other cosponsors of the Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive (RESTAURANTS) Act of 2020, H.R. 7197, introduced on June 15 by U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).
If enacted, H.R. 7197 would temporarily establish and provide funding for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which would provide grants to eligible food and beverage purveyors to cover specified costs, according to the congressional record summary. For the grant program’s initial period, the U.S. Treasury Secretary must prioritize awarding grants to marginalized and underrepresented communities, and only award grants to eligible food and beverage purveyors with annual revenues of less than $1.5 million.
In Rep. Stivers’ home state of Ohio, an estimated 11 percent of restaurants have closed permanently, while more than half fear that they may be forced to close within the year. According to the Ohio Restaurant Association, 52 percent of restaurants in the state are operating at less than 50 percent of their 2019 sales, and over 80 percent do not anticipate breaking even in 2020.
“We have already seen far too many neighborhood restaurants closed down throughout this pandemic,” Rep. Stivers said. “These are institutions that not only provide hundreds of thousands of jobs and inject billions of dollars into Ohio’s economy, but that bring our communities together.”
H.R. 7197 is supported by the Independent Restaurant Coalition and is under consideration by three committees in the U.S. House of Representatives. An identical companion bill, S. 4012, was introduced on June 18 by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and supported by 40 cosponsors. It also remains under review in the U.S. Senate.