As small businesses shutter across the country, a new bill meant to support independent restaurants and catering halls is being co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove).
The bill is the Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed To Survive Act of 2020, or the RESTAURANTS Act, and seeks to provide $120 billion in grants to owners of independent restaurants and catering halls affected by mandated shutdowns due to the coronavirus. Suozzi and others took to Zoom on Monday morning to discuss the bill.
The congressman, whose 3rd District includes the Manhasset, Roslyn, Port Washington, Great Neck and Floral Park areas, was joined on the call by Mickey King, president of Antun’s of Queens Village and director of the New York Restaurants Association; Tony Scotto, owner of the Nassau County-based restaurant and catering company Scotto Brothers; Kristen Jarnagin, president and CEO of the tourism group Discover Long Island; and U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), lead sponsor of the RESTAURANTS Act.
“Restaurants and catering halls, a critical component of our economy, have been some of the hardest-hit businesses by the pandemic,” Suozzi said. “The Paycheck Protection Program [PPP] was insufficient to address the needs of many restaurants who still have not come close to their pre-pandemic business.”
“The independent restaurant is the cornerstone of a little community,” said Blumenauer, who serves with Suozzi on the House Ways and Means Committee. “Restaurants are a vehicle for immigrants, women, self-starters to be involved economically. Often restaurants are the first job for many people, an avenue for ethnic minorities – they’re woven into the fabric of our communities.”
He noted that the country had “over half a million independent restaurants, employing more than 11 million individuals,” and that jobs from the restaurant and catering hall industry accounted for 27 percent of job losses in April alone.
“We simply cannot afford to lose them,” Blumenauer said, before quoting a study from the Independent Restaurant Coalition. “Unless we do something of extraordinary power to protect them, 80 to 85 percent of independent restaurants will close permanently.”
Blumenauer added that the bill’s 123 sponsors, all but two of them Democrats, would be working to tailor the legislation “to meet the needs of independent restaurants and catering businesses’ needs,” and put it in “the next package to leave the House.”
“I’m hopeful that our Republican friends get on board. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have bipartisan support,” Blumenauer said.
The proposed bill would provide $120 billion in grants to independent restaurants and catering halls “to cover a difference between 2019 and 2020 revenues,” Suozzi said. In a move that the congressman said was inspired by the rollout of the Payroll Protection Program, the RESTAURANTS Act funds are “designed to go to small guys first.”
“The first two weeks will allow applications for restaurants that generate $1.8 million or less per year,” Suozzi said. “Then it will open for all independent restaurateurs.”
A study provided by Blumenauer’s office said that the bill’s overall economic benefit would be $248 billion in revenue.
King, whose family runs the 75-year-old event venue Antun’s and books over 600 events a year, called the proposal essential for someone in his line of work.
“We sell large events, that’s our job and that’s the biggest thing that is being blocked right now, understandably so, I’m for safety and health,” King said. “Our only hope right now is assistance from the federal government. The restaurant sector is the second largest employer in the country. If we don’t help this sector then the future of the country is very bleak.”
He noted that his business has not had an event since March 10, and has 98 employees.
“Getting people back to work is so essential for us because I know these people,” King said. “When the 600 runs out, I’m hurting inside because I don’t know what to do to help them.”
Scotto, who owns several restaurants, hotels and four catering houses, including the Chateau Briand in Carle Place, said that he had to furlough over 1,000 of his employees, and that the situation was “disastrous to so many.”
“Catering, specifically weddings, on Long Island is a major industry and our catering houses have been completely shut down,” Scotto said. “Here on Long Island, it is not just catering. You have to take into consideration the trickle-down impact on vendors including florists, photographers, musicians, limousine services, bridal shops, tuxedo rentals, hair salons, hotels and others. It’s going to continue to hurt Long Island unless we get some help.”
Jarnagin noted that tourism was a $6.1 billion industry that supports over 80,000 businesses and 100,000 jobs on Long Island.
“It’s critical that we address this,” Jarnagin noted. “It’s about consumer confidence right now, and we’re struggling with getting people to go back out.”
Blumenauer noted that associations like Jarnagin’s were excluded from PPP loans, something that representatives were “trying to correct” in the new legislation. He added that independent restaurants that had their PPP loans forgiven would receive a reduced grant from the RESTAURANTS Act.
“Part of what you have heard from people in industry is that they’ve been uniquely hammered,” Blumenauer said. “There are 500,000 small businesses scattered across the country. They don’t have the wherewithal to endure months of no economic activity.”
Suozzi said that the nation had “an obligation” to look out for such businesses.
“We are telling them for the good of the nation to stop doing their business the way they’ve historically done it,” Suozzi said. “Since we’ve stopped that, we as a nation have an obligation to look out for your employees and your businesses too.”
