Representative Angie Craig Leads More than 100 of Her Colleagues in Bipartisan Push for Additional Aid to Struggling Restaurants

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) led 100 of their colleagues in a bipartisan letter to House leadership pushing for replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) program to meet current demand. Just yesterday, in response to questioning from Representative Craig, Small Business Administrator Isabel Guzman testified that the RRF application program received more than 362,000 applications requesting $75 billion in funding – far exceeding the $28.6 billion originally allocated to the fund.

"We commend the prior work of the House to make the RRF program a reality with an allocation of $28.6 billion. However, this program is in extremely high-demand and at current funding levels the SBA will not be able to assist a large portion of the applicants," wrote the Members. "We urge you to work together with House Small Business Committee leadership and the SBA to bring a bill to the floor that would allocate funds so every eligible applicant can receive assistance."

At the urging of Representative Craig and her colleagues, the American Rescue Plan Act established the RRF program – allocating $28.6 billion to support local bars, restaurants and eateries that were impacted by COVID-19. During yesterday's Small Business Committee hearing to examine the efficacy of the Small Business Administration's COVID-19 aid programs, Administrator Guzman confirmed that the SBA will not be able to assist a large portion of applicants who have waited over a year for this targeted assistance through the RRF program at current funding levels.

Representatives Angie Craig, Earl Blumenauer, Brian Fitzpatrick and Nicole Malliotakis were joined in the letter by Representatives Colin Allred, Cindy Axne, Donald J. Bacon, Ami Bera, M.D., Donald S. Beyer Jr., Suzanne Bonamici, Julia Brownley, Salud Carbajal, Matt Cartwright, Ed Case, Judy Chu, David N. Cicilline, Steve Cohen, Jim Cooper, Jim Costa, Jason Crow, Sharice L. Davids, Madeleine Dean, Peter A. DeFazio, Diana DeGette, Suzan K. DelBene, Antonio Delgado, Ted Deutch, Debbie Dingell, Dwight Evans, Lizzie Fletcher, Ruben Gallego, Anthony Gonzalez, Vicente Gonzalez, Jenniffer González-Colón, Josh Gottheimer, Raúl M. Grijalva, Jahana Hayes, Brian Higgins, Steven Horsford, Hakeem Jeffries, Bill Johnson, John Katko, William R. Keating, Daniel T. Kildee, Derek Kilmer, Conor Lamb, James R. Langevin, John B. Larson, Al Lawson, Barbara Lee, Susie Lee, Mike Levin, Andy Levin, Alan Lowenthal, Elaine G. Luria, Tom Malinowski, Carolyn B. Maloney, Sean Patrick Maloney, Lucy McBath, Betty McCollum, A. Donald McEachin, James P. McGovern, Grace Meng, Jerrold Nadler, Grace F. Napolitano, Marie Newman, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Tom O'Halleran, Jimmy Panetta, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Scott H. Peters, Dean Phillips, Chellie Pingree, Stacey E. Plaskett, Mark Pocan, Bill Posey, Mike Quigley, Jamie Raskin, Tom Reed, Raul Ruiz, M.D., Bobby L. Rush, Tim Ryan, Michael F.Q. San Nicolas, Linda T. Sánchez, Mary Gay Scanlon, David Scott, Terri A. Sewell, Mikie Sherrill, Albio Sires, Adam Smith, Jackie Speier, Greg Stanton, Thomas R. Suozzi, Eric Swalwell, Mark Takano, Dina Titus, Paul D. Tonko, Lori Trahan, David Trone, Lauren Underwood, Peter Welch, Jennifer Wexton, Susan Wild, and John Yarmuth.

You can find the full text of the letter

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy:

We write to respectfully urge you to quickly replenish the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) program to appropriate funding levels to meet current demand.

On May 26th Administrator Isabel Guzman of the Small Business Administration (SBA) appeared in a full House Small Business Committee hearing. She testified that as of May 24th, the date the RRF program application portal closed, the RRF had received more than 362,000 applications – with a total of $75 billion in funding requested. As of May 18th, the SBA reported that so far nearly 38,000 applicants have been approved for more than $6 billion.

We commend the prior work of the House to make the RRF program a reality with an allocation of $28.6 billion. However, this program is in extremely high-demand and at current funding levels the SBA will not be able to assist a large portion of the applicants.

We urge you to work together with House Small Business Committee leadership and the SBA to bring a bill to the floor that would allocate funds so every eligible applicant can receive assistance. Our economy is still emerging from the immense damage of the COVID-19 crisis and our hardest hit small businesses, such as restaurants, bars, and food trucks, are still navigating the impacts of over a year of lockdown orders and limits to capacity among other health requirements.

These entities are the beating heart of every community, but the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put the survival of these small businesses on the line every day. The impact on these businesses causes a ripple effect impacting supply chains, local farmers, and employees. Since the pandemic upended American life, thousands of local restaurants, taprooms, and caterers have been forced to close their doors. Many of these businesses still face an uncertain future.

We have the opportunity to ensure these small businesses get the relief they need by replenishing this program to meet the current need. We urge you to support our local economies by investing in the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. We must act now.

Thank you for your consideration of our request. We look forward to partnering with you on this important issue.

Sincerely,