Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) held a press conference Monday afternoon on Church Street with local restaurant owners to unveil bipartisan legislation that he recently introduced in Congress to create a $120 billion grant program specifically to help local restaurants survive during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Welch has held numerous e-meetings with restaurant owners throughout Vermont since the start of the pandemic and he has heard a consistent message, “we need help.” This legislation was introduced in direct response to those pleas for help.
See Legislation Summary Below
During this unprecedented time, many restaurants have been forced to completely close, offer take-out only options, or open at significantly reduced capacity. While all of these steps were necessary for the public health of Vermonters, they have devastated the local food industry and cost the jobs of thousands of Vermonters who worked in the industry. Facing months of lost revenue from a decrease in customer traffic, restaurants are also coping with the rising cost of supplies and new expenses for personal protective equipment.
Congressman Peter Welch found a shady spot on Church Street in Burlington to reveal the details of a new $120 billion plan to help rescue restaurants, which have been one of the hardest industries hit by the economic consequences of the pandemic. Courtesy photo.
“Vermont’s restaurants are often the lifeblood of our communities, where we catch up and socialize with our loved ones and neighbors,” said Rep. Peter Welch. “We need a strong food industry in Vermont, which supports local jobs and suppliers, farms, and our downtowns. The SBA loan programs do not fit all of the needs of the many restaurants hit hard by this pandemic, who have closed for months and are just now opening at greatly reduced capacity. This bill is a critical step to ensure our treasured local establishments are able to survive this pandemic to serve our friends and neighbors for many years.”
“The Vermont Restaurant Coalition is grateful to Representative Peter Welch for co-sponsoring the RESTAURANTS Act,” said Sue Bette, co-owner of Bluebird BBQ and co-founder of the Vermont Independent Restaurant Coalition. “This bill will not only save hundreds of restaurants in Vermont but will also serve to provide secure employment for our teams, preserve our local supply chain, and maintain vibrant downtowns. We would also like to acknowledge the diligent work of the Independent Restaurant Coalition which helped bring this legislation to fruition. Thank you Congressman Welch for your leadership and for recognizing the important role that restaurants will play in Vermont's economic and social recovery. With this step, you have helped save our restaurant industry so that it will once again thrive.”
Welch partnered with Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and eight other colleagues to introduce the RESTAURANTS Act (H.R. 7197) last week. The $120 billion grant program would:
- Be available to food service or drinking establishments, including caterers, that are not publicly traded or part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name.
- Provide assistance to cover the difference between revenues from 2019 and projected revenues through 2020.
- Include an initial 14 day period when funds will only be made available to restaurants with $1.5 million or less in profit to guarantee that small local restaurants receive funds.
- Provide coverage for payroll (not including employee compensation exceeding $100,000 per year), benefits, mortgage and rent payments, utilities, maintenance, supplies (including personal protective equipment and cleaning materials), food, debt obligations to suppliers, and any other expenses deemed essential by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Welch was joined at the press conference by Sue Bette; Matt Birong, chef and owner of the 3 Squares Café in Vergennes and Vermont State Representative; and Cara Chigazola Tobin, chef and co-owner of Honey Road. Text of the legislation can be found here.
ASSISTANCE NEEDED TO SURVIVE (RESTAURANTS) ACT OF 2020
Legislation to create a new $120 billion grant program to provide structured relief to restaurants through 2020.
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A GATHERING PLACE FOR COMMUNITY
There is perhaps nothing more central to communities large and small than their local restaurants. It is impossible to separate a community’s character from its cuisine – from New Orleans and Portland to New York City and Los Angeles, restaurants make a place unique.
Whether it’s food carts or a Michelin-starred institution, restaurants provide a space where people from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic status can come together in an increasingly divided world.
They are places where families and friends celebrate or reconnect and where someone can have “the usual” or explore the world’s flavors without leaving their neighborhood.
Restaurants play host to everything from first dates to proposals and many of life’s important memories.
The local restaurant industry supports Top Chef Masters, first jobs, and parents working double-shifts to give their children a brighter future.
Restaurants are the beating heart of a community but the COVID-19 pandemic is putting their survival in jeopardy.
ECONOMIC VALUE OF RESTAURANTS
Since the COVID-19 pandemic upended American life in mid-March, the vast majority of independent, local restaurants have closed their doors, laid off most of their employees, and are now wondering what they will look like after the pandemic, if they can even reopen at all. While independent restaurants employ more than 11 million people, it isn’t just restaurants and their employees that are hurt by the pandemic.
The food supply chain touches every corner of the country and every congressional district. From farm workers and fishermen to truck drivers and restaurant workers, the restaurant industry provides a $1 trillion annual boost to the United States’ economy, to say nothing of supporting tens of millions of individuals’ and families’ livelihoods.
Unlike any other industry, restaurants have been uniquely devastated by COVID-19. Social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders have drastically reduced demand, so much so that the restaurant sector is now the top contributor to unemployment rolls across America.
In April alone, 5.5 million restaurant workers lost their jobs, accounting for 27% of total job losses in the month. Today, four in ten restaurants are closed and the remaining open restaurants are grappling with revenues that have been decimated and will remain so until COVID-19 is eradicated.
Recent surveys found that COVID-19 has forced operators to lay off 91% of the hourly workforce and 70% of salaried employees.
Only one in five restaurant owners subjected to state mandated dine-in shutdowns said they felt confident they could keep their restaurants running.
The National Bureau of Economic Research predicts that only 15% of restaurants will be able to stay open if the COVID-19 pandemic lasts six months. All of this in an industry that already runs on extremely thin margins. Previous efforts to help small businesses such as the Paycheck Protection Program are too restrictive for restaurants and do not address their specific challenges.
The simple fact is that restaurants and their employees need direct assistance to get through the end of the year, and they need it now.
THE SOLUTION – THE REAL ECONOMIC SUPPORT THAT ACKNOWLEDGES UNIQUE RESTAURANT ASSISTANCE NEEDED TO SURVIVE (RESTAURANTS) ACT OF 2020
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) will soon introduce the RESTAURANTS Act of 2020, legislation to create a new $120 billion grant program to provide structured relief to restaurants through 2020.
• The program will be administered by the Department of the Treasury and available to food service or drinking establishments, including caterers, that are not publicly traded or part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name;
• Grant values will cover the difference between revenues from 2019 and projected revenues through 2020;
• Paycheck Protection Program or Economic Injury Disaster Loan funding recipients must subtract funds received that do not need to be paid back from the maximum Restaurant Stabilization Grant value;
• Restaurant Stabilization Grants do not need to be paid back and funding is made available through 2020;
• Eligible expenses include: payroll (not including employee compensation exceeding $100,000/year), benefits, mortgage, rent, utilities, maintenance, supplies (including protective equipment and cleaning materials), food, debt obligations to suppliers, and any other expenses deemed essential by the Secretary of the Treasury;
• Recipients must certify that current economic conditions make the grant request necessary, that the funds will be used retain workers, maintain payroll, and make other payments (as specified above), and that the recipient is only applying for and would only receive one grant;
• If a restaurant permanently ceases operations before the end of 2020, unspent funds must be returned. If the grant award exceeds the actual end-of-year revenues the grant is converted to a loan with a 10-year term at 1% interest;
• The first 14 days of funds will only be made available to restaurants with annual revenues of $1.5 million or less to target local small restaurants, particularly those that are women, veteran, or minority-owned and operated eligible entities that are owned or operated by women or people of color; and
• The Restaurant Stabilization Act provides $300 million to administer the program – $60 million of which is set-aside for outreach to traditionally marginalized and underrepresented communities, with a focus on women, veteran, and minority-owned and operated eligible entities.
TIME TO ACT
Over the past two months, Congress has mustered the political will to pass more than $3 trillion of relief to most sectors of the economy – the House of Representatives just passed an additional $3 trillion of relief.
There were broad-based programs for direct individual assistance, small business loans, and tax relief for businesses large and small. Likewise, there was targeted relief for industries that were hard-hit by the effects of COVID-19.
Yet in every piece of legislation, restaurants have been ignored at the peril of the very communities they serve.
We can’t afford not to act. Nothing less than millions of livelihoods, hundreds of thousands of businesses, and the fabric of our communities is at stake.
Source: BURLINGTON – Rep. Peter Welch 6.22.2020