Analysis of House Democrat HEROES Act, Implications for Restaurants
Yesterday, House Democrats unveiled their “Phase Four” response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dubbed the “HEROES Act,” the measure has provisions that are very important to our industry (including our approach to improving the PPP program), and provisions that will be more challenging for restaurants (extension of enhanced unemployment, extension of emergency paid-sick leave/FMLA).
Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bring the bill to the House floor this Friday for a vote. It is assumed it will pass along largely party lines. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has endorsed the PPP changes and will seek to integrate them into anything moving in the Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is likely to pursue a different approach to his “Phase Four” bill, focusing largely on liability safe harbors for businesses that are reopening.
It’s too early for to predict how/when this bill will wind its way through Congress, but it will definitely be a slower track than the previous COVID response bills.
The IRA and National Restaurant Association are still pressing Treasury to make unilateral changes to the PPP, and we fully expect an announcement to be made imminently - as noted in a recent
Wall Street Journal piece
about Mnuchin and restaurants.
Click here
to read a breakdown of the HEROES Act and the implications for restaurants.