Operations

NRA applauds House passage of $42M restaurant relief package

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April 7, 2022

The House of Representatives approved a $55 billion relief package Thursday that includes $2 billion for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

While the approval is drawing applause from the National Restaurant Association it's being protested by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget which describes the overall package as an example of deficit spending.

"After nearly a year of advocating for RRF replenishment, the momentum of the last few days has been overwhelming for the restaurant industry. Today's vote shows that the House recognizes that restaurants are still in crisis and that the need for emergency funding still exists. We appreciate the leadership of Rep. Dean Philips (D-MN) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) to provide relief for the 177,000 restaurants who so desperately need and deserve it. We'll continue our efforts in the Senate for Congress complete the mission of the RRF," Sean Kennedy, executive vice president for public affairs, NRA, said in a statement regarding the vote.

In statement the NRA also provided industry statistics which the group believes illustrates the need for replenishing the fund:

• More than 4 in 10 restaurant operators expect business conditions to deteriorate in the coming months, according to the National Restaurant Association's March 2022 tracking survey.
• Only 29% of operators think business conditions will improve during the next six months, while 42% think conditions will worsen.
• This represented operators' most pessimistic six-month outlook in nearly two years.
• 90,000 restaurants have closed permanently or long-term because of the pandemic.
• Restaurants operate on 3-5% pre-tax margins and are seeing double digit increases in food, workforce, and other operating costs.
• A majority of restaurants have not experienced a complete recovery to pre-pandemic sales levels, and 63% of operators say sales volume in 2021 was lower than it was in 2019.
• 96% of RRF recipients said the grant made it more likely that they would be able to stay in business during the pandemic.
• 85% of RRF recipients said the grant helped them retain or hire back employees that would otherwise have been temporarily or permanently laid off.

In its statement the NRA estimates over 900,000 jobs were saved due to the first round of Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget issued a statement. following the bill's passage. stating the bill has not yet been scored by the Congressional Budget Office and appears to be mostly deficit-financed.

"The inflation rate is 8%, and Washington still can't kick its addiction to deficit spending. Yesterday the President extended a regressive and costly student debt pause and today the House votes to send another $55 billion to restaurants and businesses without many real offsets or so much as a CBO score," Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in the statement. The statement also noted the federal government has already authorized over $6 trillion of COVID relief.

"With inflation surging, debt near record highs, and unemployment at pre-pandemic levels, now is not the time for more. Instead, we should be lowering deficits to help the Federal Reserve get inflation back under control. Any new spending should be focused on addressing the pandemic itself, and should be fully offset so as not to increase deficits or worsen inflation," the committee said in a statement.