Brian Higgins: “Restaurants have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic, taking on increasing costs while facing huge revenue…”

“Restaurants have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic, taking on increasing costs while facing huge revenue losses. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund provided $28.6 billion for restaurants nationwide and delivered over $85 million to restaurants in my community. Still, the demand was greater than the resources made available by Congress, with over 175,000 eligible restaurants that applied for grants through the program going entirely unfunded. This week, we have the opportunity to fill that gap, support small businesses, and save jobs by passing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act. I am proud to support this bill and encourage my colleagues to do the same. After a long, difficult period of isolation, people are coming together and going back to restaurants, but we need to make whole these restaurants that have lost money based on nothing that they have done. ____________________”