Bridgeport Times

The United States House of Representatives has adopted a plan that  includes $42 billion for restaurants and $13 billion for a hard-hit  sectors program that would assist small firms that were not eligible for  restaurant aid.

That proposal, however, received just the support of six House  Republicans, indicating that it lacks the support needed in the equally  divided United States Senate to reach President Joe Biden's desk.

That's when Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin and Mississippi  Republican Sen. Roger Wicker stepped in with their own bill, which would  offer $40 billion to eateries and $8 billion to small businesses.

"We're looking at whatever method we can get things moving as fast as  possible because it's fairly desperate," Cardin said during a brief  interview.

Aside from the $2 billion financing shortfall for restaurants,  the main differences between the proposals include how money is  provided for non-restaurant industries and how the law is paid for.

The House plan would create a $13 billion fund for firms with 200 or  fewer employees that incurred a 40 percent or greater revenue loss due  to the epidemic. Businesses might receive up to $1 million in funding.

Cardin and Wicker's Senate measure would create distinct pools of money for diverse industries.

Two billion dollars would be available for gyms that lost more than  25% of their revenue; $2 billion would be distributed to live event  venues that lost more than 25% of their revenue; $2 billion would be  distributed to buses and ferries, including charter buses, commuter  buses, school buses, and passenger ferries; $1.415 billion would be  distributed to very small businesses located near land border crossings  that were closed during the pandemic, and $500 million would be  distributed to individuals.

An extra $75 million would be allocated to small companies in Alaska  that were shut off from the rest of the country during the epidemic due  to border closures. In addition, $10 million would be available for  small enterprises in similar locations in Minnesota and Washington.

"During the height of the epidemic, Congress took action to give  much-needed relief to restaurants and other businesses, but the first  program left thousands of qualifying establishments and their employees  without help," Wicker said in a statement. "As our economy recovers from  a terrible two years, it is critical to refill this fund for justice's  sake."

The restaurant assistance would be sent to the Restaurant  Revitalization Fund, which Democrats established in their $1.9 trillion  COVID-19 relief plan last year.

Democratic legislators initially approved $28.6 billion, but demands  for more than $76 billion swiftly eclipsed the amount of money the Small  Business Administration had to provide struggling eateries.  Approximately two-thirds of the eateries that asked for money did not  obtain it.

As a result, various organizations have called on Congress to offer  additional assistance to restaurants in order to fund salaries, running  expenditures, and building costs for outside dining spaces.

The National Restaurant Association's Mike Whatley, vice president of  State Affairs and Grassroots Advocacy, stated that certain restaurants  receiving assistance while others did not "established an unequal  playing field."

"There was nothing wrong with these establishments. "They applied,  filled out their paperwork, were qualified, and then the help didn't  come," Whatley explained.

Concerns that further federal spending on COVID-19 assistance might  worsen the country's already-rising inflation do not necessarily apply  to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, he says.

According to Whatley, many of the eateries requesting assistance want  to utilize government funds to pay off invoices and other problems.

"We feel that for restaurants and the RRF, this should be a  bipartisan issue, and Congress should figure it out and get it done to  close the gap," he added.

Several politicians have argued against increased pandemic  expenditure, noting inflation and reduced COVID-19 instances across the  country.

Restaurants continue to endure pandemic limitations, according to  Whatley, who added that Philadelphia is resuming its mask mandate and  that new varieties are anticipated to emerge.

Original source can be found here.