The number of people making reservations has also returned to 2019 levels. Furthermore, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that the 11 million people working in restaurants and bars in March 2022 was just 5 percent below the number in March 2019. 1101 W. Mineral Ave. Ste. A similar attempt to refill the RRF was left out of the omnibus spending bill earlier this year. By the time it closed in July 2021, the RRF gave out just about a third of the grant requests that it received because the demand was so great. Forty-three Senate Republicans, objecting to the fact that only a smidgen of the Senate bills cost would be offset by economies elsewhere, on May 19 prevented there being 60 votes to proceed with it. Consider the House-passed, $55 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act, which could be the No Faction Left Behind Act.. Lawmakers approved the measure in a 223-203 vote, with only about a handful of Republicans backing it. (Recommendation 6), The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should develop and implement a plan to respond to potentially fraudulent and ineligible RRF awards in a prompt and consistent manner. Something went wrong. Last year, lawmakers created. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to provide funding to help restaurants and other eligible businesses keep their doors open. Hence the Replenishment Act. 3807, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021. WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the release of $83 million dollars in unobligated Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grants to 169 operators with pending applications. About the National Restaurant AssociationFounded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises nearly 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of 14.5 million employees. Restaurant owners have taken on substantial debt and tapped into their own savings accounts, just in an effort to keep the doors open. National Restaurant Association Nov 23, 2022, 16:51 ET WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the release of $83 million dollars in. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), signed the letter . This plan should include coordinating with the OIG. The President has encouraged most people to stop wearing masks in indoor spaces, something that was unthinkable a year ago. | 2 p.m. The act illustrates a timeless truth legislative bargaining is additive. The Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act of 2022 (H.R. Its abundantly clear that the Biden administration considers the pandemic to be basically over. In March 2021, Congress appropriated $28.6 billion to the Small Business Administration to help the food service industry weather the COVID-19 pandemic. The Association was first to lay out the plan for a restaurant industry recovery fund to Congress in April 2020. Even the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, with its paltry $28.6 billion in initial funding, wasnt enough to meaningfully help most establishments. RASI will only use your information to contact you about our products and services. The bill would provide $42 billion to replenish the RRF. What to do? Priority is to be provided to previous RRF applicants that did not receive an award. It's unclear whether Democrats in the evenly split Senate will be able to win over at least 10 Republicans to overcome the 60-vote threshold to end any potential filibuster and pass the measure. They have until March 2023 to spend the money. 3807 (117th). The SBA has contacted recipients of the awards. The median award was about $126,000. It is not clear how, when, or to whom these RRF grants will be issued, so do not throw away any correspondence from the SBA because you may be one of the lucky stores to receive an extremely late RRF grant! LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2022 / The Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) has promising news that funds may be added, however, are not guaranteed just yet. According to the SBA, the RRF provided $28.6 billion to more than 100,000 restaurants, bars, and other businesses that provide on-site food and drink. Make Your Nomination for Restaurant Informers 2023, Lapeer Steak and Seafood Lands New Executive Chef McAlpine, Payback Time: What To Do About Your PPP or EIDL Loan, Georgia Hospitality Expo & ProStart Invitational 2023. In January 2023, SBA stated that it was reviewing 10% of RRF awards to confirm eligibility and use of funds compliance. Assessing controls and addressing deficiencies would help SBA better ensure program integrity. Together with 52 State Associations, we are a network of professional organizations dedicated to serving every restaurant through advocacy, education, and food safety. Esqueci minha senha. Six weeks ago six weeks of economic recovery ago Britschgi noted that in general, there are more small businesses open today than existed before the pandemic. And almost all government-dictated restrictions on commerce have ended. Operators receiving funds should receive notification today and SBA will begin transmitting the grants next week. The National Restaurant Association has been requesting these funds be released, and Executive Vice President of Public Affairs Sean Kennedy released the following statement in response: "The SBA's action represents the final chapter of our nearly three-year effort to secure dedicated federal pandemic relief dollars for local restaurants. Both political parties agreed that the RRF should be replenished but couldn't reach a consensus on how to pay for it. Is the grant money taxable and are the expenses deductible? Will an injustice be done if, with the pandemic receding and the economy reviving, nothing is done for those who missed out in the first-come-first-served scramble for the initial (and perhaps final) $28 billion? In January 2023, SBA stated that it would offer to participate in a government-wide dialogue to address systemic weaknesses related to IRS and territories' tax validation systems. WASHINGTON The House passed a $55 billion bill Thursday that would provide assistance to restaurants and other small businesses that have struggled because of the coronavirus pandemic. And it underscores the inevitable inequities that accompany large-scale government interventions in the economy. There had, however, been 278,304 applicants seeking $72 billion. www.arffinancial.com/updates-to-the-restaurant-revitalization-fund/, Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/103.0.0.0 Safari/537.36. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund covered period begins on February 15, 2020 and ends on March 11, 2023. Published May 24, 2022 Thai Phi Le Senior Managing Editor In January 2023, SBA stated that it was weighing potential solutions, such as adding functionality in the RRF platform to allow recipients to report their operating status. Today's announcement is great news for those 169 operators fortunate enough to receive an RRF grant, but hundreds of thousands more are struggling with uncertainty. In the initial shutdowns, more than eight million industry employees were laid off or furloughed. As a result, the U.S. Congress introduced legislation called the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to help restaurants get back on their feet. For more information, please check out our Privacy Policy. The Independent Restaurant Coalition, which has spent the last two years lobbying for small restaurants in the face of extreme economic uncertainty, issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the decision to abandon restaurants, calling it catastrophic for these establishments. In addition to restaurants and bars, eligible businesses include food trucks, bakeries, wineries or breweries and inns. The American Rescue Plan created the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Its an AI bot. Restaurant Revitalization Fund What's the impact of the Senate's failure to pass RRF? The CARES Act includes a provision for GAO to monitor federal efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. What are eligible expenses and restrictions that RRF grant recipients should know about? But it flagged 4,000 award recipients for suspected fraud and isn't taking timely action to address them. About 43 percent had 2019 revenue of $500,000 or less. Restaurant owners plead for Congresss help after omicron surge. The Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting applications and awarding funds in May 2021. From the recruitment of employees to the constantly rising costs for food, running a restaurant right now is a daily struggle. SBA disagreed with five recommendations, including to assess pre-award controls and implement a plan to address fraudulent or ineligible awards. Apr 7, 2022. No later than December 31, 2021, all recipients are required to report to the SBA how much of their RRF grant has been used against each eligible use category. In 2020 and 2021, restaurants, bars, and other food service businesses experienced substantial revenue loss and unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the main sponsor of the bill, and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., said Thursday that more than 80 percent of restaurants that didn't receive grants have reported that they are on the verge of permanent closure, citing a survey from the Independent Restaurant Coalition. The U.S. House of Representatives voted yes on a bill Thursday that would provide $42 billion in relief to foodservice businesses that originally applied for the . Senha. Even now that the Omicron wave is receding, and more people are going back to restaurants and living their lives normally again, theres no way for these establishments to get back what theyve lost since the shutdowns began in March 2020. By June 2021, the fund's $28.6 billion had been disbursed to 100,000 applicants in grants averaging $283,000. This recommendation will remain open until SBA (1) provides documentation of its review, and (2) addresses or mitigates any deficiencies identified. Ninety-six percent of RRFrecipients said the grant made it more likely that their business would survive. Congress can talk about refilling the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, but it can never be full enough to service all factions who can claim, with some plausibility, that they experienced unfairness not easily distinguished from that suffered by factions who benefited from the first $28 billion. By the time it closed in July 2021, the RRF. In January 2023, SBA stated that it would conduct a review of RRF awards and use the results to inform the effectiveness of pre-award controls. All rights reserved. The Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting applications and awarding funds in May 2021. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is releasing $83 million in leftover Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) aid to restaurateurs who were denied assistance in 2021 because the program burned through most of its $28.6 billion in about three weeks. Most recipients (72 percent) reported they were owned by women, veterans, or members of socially and economically disadvantaged groups. For example, SBA considered applications made through external vendors to be low-risk, but over 4,000 recipients who applied through such a channel have been flagged for suspected fraud or ineligibility, including an alleged fraudster who received $8 million. There comes a point where the right policy is: Stop smoothing. If the business permanently closes, the covered period will end when the business permanently closes; or, on March 11, 2023 whichever occurs sooner. Expect to see many more restaurant closures in the coming months. H.R.3807 - Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021 117th Congress (2021-2022) Bill Hide Overview More on This Bill Constitutional Authority Statement CBO Cost Estimates [0] Subject Policy Area: Commerce View subjects Give Feedback on This Bill Contact Your Member Summary (2) Text (3) Actions (17) Titles (3) Amendments (1) However, for expensesses incurred on February 15, 2020 or after, be careful not to use the following: So long as funds are utilized for eligible applications no later than March 11, 2023, there is no requirement for recipients to repay the funding. UPDATE: April 6, 2022:Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) introduced a bill similar to the one before the House Tuesday night. Would a grant recipient ever have to pay back any of the funds? But what about those other small businesses (gyms, minor league baseball, etc.) Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R, PA) and Earl Blumenauer (D, OR), and Sens. An estimated 90,000 restaurants have already closed their doors during the pandemic, and that number will likely continue to grow. The SBA closed the program and stopped accepting applications on July 2nd, 2021. Recipients cannot claim other expenses paid with RRF grant money as nonpayroll costs for purposes of PPP forgiveness. These restaurants fighting for survival cannot go it alone any longer, and should not be treated as a spot in the rear-view mirror of Congress.". 3807 passes the House and then the Senate, it would be a massive victory for restaurants that are struggling to shake the effects of past dining room restrictions as they navigate supply chain shortages, surging inflation and a historic labor shortfall. And SBA has not proactively used data analytics or information from enforcement entities to identify potentially fraudulent award recipients. About 40% of eligible applicants received awards from the resulting Restaurant Revitalization Fund before it was depleted. Realizar Login. ET, 5 store-level changes driving the Starbucks union, How 6 restaurant giants are hiking menu prices, Starbucks faces corporate employee revolt, Wendys offers franchisees reduced royalty rate, slashes fees on new restaurants, Bonchon to double US presence within 5 years, NRA: One-third of operators predict ghost kitchens will decline, How Retailers Can Embrace New Collaborations with Brands, Reimagining the dine-in experience with technology, How Restaurants Can Turbocharge Loyalty Programs with Payment Data, Starbucks fired a union organizer. Published: Jul 14, 2022. (Recommendation 2), The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should develop and implement policies and procedures for addressing RRF recipients who do not meet annual reporting requirements. We noted in our report, however, that SBA's post-award review procedures for RRF state that flagged awards will be reviewed when the recipients certify that they have spent their entire award or after they submit their final use-of-funds report (not when fraud is initially suspected). How many restaurants originally benefited from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund? Writing for Reason, he noted six weeks ago that Open Table, the reservation app, shows that close to 95 percent of restaurants open in 2019 are back to accepting reservations. This recommendation will remain open until SBA provides evidence of conducting data analytics across RRF awards to detect potentially fraudulent recipients. Senha. Even the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, with its paltry $28.6 billion in initial funding, wasn't enough to meaningfully help most establishments. When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type. The House already has passed H.R. On Nov. 23, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) released a statement about the current state of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RFF), which helped more than 100,000 restaurants and food and beverage business owners during the pandemic. Cardin's bill, S.4008, would provide $40 billion in additional funding for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. IE 11 is not supported.