Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) supported the approval of H.R. 3807, the Relief for Restaurants and other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act. This bill would provide an additional $42 billion for the Restaurant Revitalization Grant Program as well as $13 billion for a new Small Business Administration grant program to help hard-hit small businesses that have lost significant revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill received bipartisan support and was approved by a vote of 223-203.
“We are seeing remarkable recovery from this pandemic thanks to the programs supported by the American Rescue Plan Act — which also created the Restaurant Revitalization Grant Program. Through this program, over 130 businesses throughout Georgia’s Second Congressional District received nearly $34.9 million in emergency assistance,” said Congressman Bishop. “Small businesses are vital job creators and the beating heart of our local economies across Middle and Southwest Georgia and this bill helps keep them on their feet as we come out of this pandemic.”
The bill would create a new program, the Hard Hit Industries Award Program, that would provide emergency funding assistance to small businesses that have experienced at least a 40% decrease in revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The award amount would be equal to the calculated pandemic-related loss in revenue, with a maximum award of $1 million.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund to provide funding to help restaurants and other eligible businesses keep their doors open. ARPA was passed by the Democratically-led U.S. House and U.S. Senate without Republican support. The funds from this bill would go to restaurants and bars that qualified during the initial application window. And for those who had earlier qualified but did not receive aid before the program's funding was exhausted, they could receive funding only if the restaurant is still operating or intends to reopen within six months.
Original source can be found here.
