The NRA wrote a letter to Congress on Monday urging policymakers to pass legislation that would refill the fund. GAO reviewed SBA documentation, analyzed SBA data on the program's applicants and recipients, and interviewed SBA officials and representatives of industry associations. Brands like Chipotle, McDonalds and Starbucksarewalking a tightrope charge enough to protect the bottom line without alienating customers. 3807), which would refill the Restaurant Revitalization Fund with $42 billion,was reintroduced in. SBA does not immediately investigate all potentially fraudulent awards, and instead waits for recipients to submit final reports (which might not be until April 30, 2023). The age of the Silicon Valley moonshot is over. (Recommendation 5), The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should develop, document, and implement procedures to use enforcement data on suspected fraud in other SBA programs, such as PPP, to identify potential fraud in RRF recipients. Congress is voting on a $42 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund CEO of Berryhill Baja Grill restaurants in Houston, Jeff Anon, decided to take matters into his own hands in regards to declaring his right to free speech. Senha. Restaurant owners have taken on substantial debt and tapped into their own savings accounts, just in an effort to keep the doors open. Lawmakers ask SBA for disbursement plan for $180M RRF leftovers Among the 435 congressional districts, surely not one lacks businesses eligible for aid, especially from the Senate bill. How many restaurants originally benefited from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund? Small businesses of long standing, and families who went into debt to launch, say, restaurants or bars or bakeries just before the pandemic, now have blighted futures the caprice of rotten luck. Restaurant Industry News and Resources in Georgia. Atendimento ao inscrito. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund covered period begins on February 15, 2020 and ends on March 11, 2023. For more information about the SBA, visit sba.gov. Six weeks ago six weeks of economic recovery ago Britschgi noted that in general, there are more small businesses open today than existed before the pandemic. And almost all government-dictated restrictions on commerce have ended. The National Restaurant Association is asking Congress to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund as the Covid omicron variant hits operators' businesses. Recipients cannot claim other expenses paid with RRF grant money as nonpayroll costs for purposes of PPP forgiveness. In March 2021, Congress appropriated $28.6 billion to SBA for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund to assist the industry. The American Rescue Plan created the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Bei der Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps verwenden wir, unsere Websites und Apps fr Sie bereitzustellen, Nutzer zu authentifizieren, Sicherheitsmanahmen anzuwenden und Spam und Missbrauch zu verhindern, und, Ihre Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps zu messen, personalisierte Werbung und Inhalte auf der Grundlage von Interessenprofilen anzuzeigen, die Effektivitt von personalisierten Anzeigen und Inhalten zu messen, sowie, unsere Produkte und Dienstleistungen zu entwickeln und zu verbessern. Nova Inscrio. Joanna Fantozzi | Apr 06, 2022. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the main sponsor of the bill, and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., said Thursday that more than 80 percent of restaurants that didn't receive grants have reported that they are on the verge of permanent closure, citing a survey from the Independent Restaurant Coalition. Do it again, but bigger. the aid could benefit? There had, however, been 278,304 applicants seeking $72 billion. Even the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, with its paltry $28.6 billion in initial funding, wasn't enough to meaningfully help most establishments. For more information, visitRestaurant.org and find us on Twitter@WeRRestaurants, Cision Distribution 888-776-0942 The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in July, noting SBA was holding unobligated RRF funds and the Association was first to send a letter to SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman requesting that the unobligated money be released to unfunded applicants. 200Littleton, Colorado 80120. By the time it closed in July 2021, the RRF gave out just about a third of the grant requests that it received because the demand was so great. If the business permanently closes, the covered period will end when the business permanently closes; or, on March 11, 2023 whichever occurs sooner. On Nov. 23, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) released a statement about the current state of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RFF), which helped more than 100,000 restaurants and food and beverage business owners during the pandemic. The Independent Restaurant Coalition, which has spent the last two years lobbying for small restaurants in the face of extreme economic uncertainty, issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the decision to abandon restaurants, calling it catastrophic for these establishments. As a result, the U.S. Congress introduced legislation called the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to help restaurants get back on their feet. "I think right now it's hard to as you saw, even with the $10 billion package of new money for Covid unless they can reprogram or repurpose it, it's going to be a hard sell," he said Thursday afternoon as he exited Capitol. This program will provide restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. House passes aid for restaurants, small businesses affected by Covid WASHINGTON The House passed a $55 billion bill Thursday that would provide assistance to restaurants and other small businesses that have struggled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many independently owned restaurants havent been anywhere near profitable since the pandemic began, and its clear that many of them are in a hole that theyll never be able to dig themselves out of. The legislation would also provide $13 billion for other businesses affected by the pandemic, and it would establish oversight and reporting requirements to ensure grants are awarded properly and to verify the use of funding. Back in January, a Biden administration official said pretty plainly that the president had no plans to support a new comprehensive stimulus for all Americans, but did hint that there might be something small for restaurants on the way. Restaurant owners plead for Congresss help after omicron surge. Among its objectives, this report examines recipient characteristics, SBA's internal controls and fraud risk management practices, and SBA's efforts to monitor recipients. Rebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington. GAO makes seven recommendations to SBA, including to assess pre-award controls and address deficiencies, strengthen post-award reporting, take additional steps to identify fraudulent or ineligible awards, and develop and implement a plan to address potentially fraudulent award recipients in a timely manner. Expect to see many more restaurant closures in the coming months. About 43 percent had 2019 revenue of $500,000 or less. Even now that the Omicron wave is receding, and more people are going back to restaurants and living their lives normally again, theres no way for these establishments to get back what theyve lost since the shutdowns began in March 2020. SBA took steps to detect fraudulent or ineligible applications. But what about those other small businesses (gyms, minor league baseball, etc.) National Restaurant Association Statement on the Release of $83 Million For more information, please check out our Privacy Policy. According to the SBA, they received more than 278,000 applications by June 30th, 2021, seeking more than $72.2 billion in funding. This is not an infusion of funds into the RRF currently; in fact, a new law was introduced and passed by the House of Representatives to replenish the RRF with more than $40 billion, but it did not pass the Senate (See June 2022 update below).It is not clear how, when, or to whom these RRF grants will be issued, so do not throw away any correspondence from the SBA because you may be one of the lucky stores to receive an extremely late RRF grant!As we learn more from the Small Business Administration (SBA) about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) and any updates surrounding it, we will continue to make updates on the blog post and right here on The Tip Share!Read the full Blog Post: https://rasiusa.com/blog/restaurant-revitalization-fund-updates/Listen to the full Podcast Episode: https://anchor.fm/the-tip-share/episodes/Restaurant-Revitalization-Fund-RRF-Updates---August-2022-e1mtkjl/a-a8e5o0oSocial Handles: RASI Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rasinc__/RASI Twitter: https://twitter.com/RASInc_RASI Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RestaurantAccountingServicesIncRASI LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/restaurant-accounting-services-inc-rasi Chapters:00:00 Intro00:15 $180 Million in RRF Unspent Funds - August 2022 Update00:48 What's next for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund in 2022 and into 2023?#RASI #FocusOnFoodNotFinances#restaurantaccounting #restaurantaccountingservices #restaurantaccountingsoftware #restaurantpurchasing #restaurantpurchasingprogram #restaurantbudgets #restaurantbudgeting #foodcosting #menuengineering #restaurantoperations #restaurantpayroll #restaurantHR #restaurantcompliance #restaurantconsulting #restaurantinventorymanagement #openingarestaurant #restaurantstartup Restaurant Revitalization Fund Award Disbursements, May 3July 1, 2021. (Recommendation 4), The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should develop and implement data analytics across RRF awards as a means to detect potentially fraudulent award recipients. This will remain until they fully expend the grant funding or the covered period expires. Wenn Sie Ihre Auswahl anpassen mchten, klicken Sie auf Datenschutzeinstellungen verwalten. H.R. Last year, lawmakers created. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is releasing $83 million in leftover Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) aid to restaurateurs who were denied assistance in 2021 because the program burned through most of its $28.6 billion in about three weeks. The restaurant industry reacts. Are there any reporting requirements for RRF grant recipients? It includes greater auditing requirements for restaurant grants to prevent fraud, as well as new transparency and customer service provisions to ensure that SBA shares information. the Senate didnt pass the proposed increase, Easy Tips To Understand How To Properly Read Your Balance Sheet, Restaurant Business & Startup Loans: Complete Guide, Business payroll costs, including health insurance, Payments on any business mortgage obligation (both principal and interest; note: this does not include any prepayment of principal on a mortgage obligation), Business rent payments (note: this does not include prepayment of rent), Business debt service (both principal and interest; note: this does not include any prepayment of principal or interest), Business utility payments, maintenance expenses, Business supplies (including protective equipment and cleaning materials), Covered supplier costs, same definition as under PPP Forgiveness nonpayroll expensesfood purchases, Legal expenses, marketing expenses, insurance expenses, business licenses, shipping fees, equipment (new hood or a new grill, new fryers, etc.). This is not an infusion of funds into the RRF currently; in fact, a new law was introduced and passed by the House of Representatives to replenish the RRF with more than $40 billion, but it did not pass the Senate (See June 2022 update below). The RRF is actually part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which was established in March 2021. Priority is to be provided to previous RRF applicants that did not receive an award. So, in March 2021, seasonal compassion reinforced a political temptation for all seasons Congresss temptation to make life less unfair. But it flagged 4,000 award recipients for suspected fraud and isn't taking timely action to address them. But with Congress having adjourned for a two-week recess, the bill won't be considered anytime soon in the Senate. Restaurant Revitalization Fund: Opportunities Exist to Improve The U.S. House and Senate passed a bill, S.4008, which wouldve added $40 billion to the plan a significant increase over the approximate $29 billion originally proposed in the RRF. This news doesnt exactly come as a surprise, but earlier this year, there was some hope that more money was coming. Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts. Nearly 1 year ago, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RFF) stopped taking applications. The SBA is set to award an added $180 million in unspent funds allocated for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) back in 2021.