Congresswoman Clark Votes To Provide Post-Pandemic Relief to Restaurants & Small Businesses

In full transparency, the following is a press release from Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark’s office to SOURCE media. Clark is the congresswoman for this area. She is a Democrat. (file photo)

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WASHINGTON DC – Today, April 7, Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Katherine Clark (MA-5) voted to pass the Relief for Restaurants and other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act of 2022. This legislation would provide an additional $42 billion for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which was established by Congressional Democrats and President Biden in the American Rescue Plan, to support restaurants and other small businesses in response to COVID-19.

The bill also provides $13 billion to establish a Hard Hit Industry Award Program to provide awards to small businesses across all industries and sectors that were hardest hit by the pandemic but were not eligible for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund or Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program. Businesses that engage in wage theft will be barred from receiving money through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

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“Our favorite restaurants and venues are gathering places for our communities and bring families together, but they’ve been hit incredibly hard by the pandemic,” said Assistant Speaker Clark. “Today, House Democrats voted to make sure that the small business owners who were still in line for federal support when the Restaurant Revitalization Fund ran out won’t be left holding the bag. Ensuring that restaurants and venues can afford to keep their doors open won’t just enrich our communities – it will also save and create jobs across industries. Democrats are once again fighting to support workers, save small businesses, and help families on their path to recovery from the pandemic’s economic fallout.”

The American Rescue Plan Act established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund to provide funding to help restaurants and other eligible businesses keep their doors open.

This program provided restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss of up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location.

Recipients are not required to repay the funding as long as funds are used for eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023.

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