President Biden Signs Restaurant Revitalization Fund into Law
With yesterday's signing, the American Rescue Plan has become law. Congress has delivered on the restaurant-specific relief that small and independent restaurants deserve after closures, increased costs, and decreased revenues have threatened their ability to stay in business for nearly a year.
The stage is set for the Small Business Administration to administer the restaurant-specific grant program known as the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). With $28.6 billion set aside to provide up to $5 million to eligible restaurants, we’re grateful to see a program that will target relief to our industry which is the one of the hardest hit businesses enduring this pandemic.
The RRF reflects our year-long effort together to help restaurants in need and builds on additional relief tools we advocated for and secured at the Federal level, including:
- Creating the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
- Passing the PPP Flexibility Act
- Ensuring PPP recipients wouldn’t lose critical tax deductions
- Expanding the Employee Retention Tax Credit
- Creating a Second Round of PPP with favorable restaurant terms, and
- Defeating efforts to eliminate the tip credit.
No one program will erase the economic toll created by the past year, but our work with the National Restaurant Association and you all has created another important victory for restaurants, their workers, and the communities who depend on them.
Get an overview of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund here.
