Food & Beverage

NRA applauds Sen Schumer's move to co-sponsor $120B Restaurants Act

New York Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is co-sponsoring the Restaurants Act -- a very good move, according to the NRA.

New York Senator Chuck Schumer. (Image: Wikimedia commons)

August 14, 2020

The National Restaurant Association is expressing appreciation today for the move by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to co-sponsor the Senate version of the Restaurants Act of 2020 (Restaurant in this case stands for Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed To Survive). The bi-partisan measure would generate a $120 billion fund to help the industry, which has been devastated by the pandemic.

The NRA views Schumer's decision as an underlining of his support for the industry and the threat the pandemic has posed to it survival, according to a news release.

"Restaurant jobs are the heartbeat of local communities across New York and the nation and the lifeblood of our economy, employing more young people, single mothers, and immigrants than most industries. As one of the hardest hit industries during this pandemic, we must do everything we can to ensure our restaurants and our restaurant workers are protected, otherwise we will shortchange our entire economy," Schumer said in making the move, the NRA reported. "I am proud to stand with the National Restaurant Association and support the RESTAURANTS Act to give restaurants the relief they need to weather this crisis so they can eventually fully reopen and bring back to work millions of workers who have lost their jobs. Restaurants can't wait. Congress needs to act now to pass this important legislation and other critical assistance that struggling small businesses and workers are in desperate need of."

"We appreciate Sen. Schumer's leadership and his support of this vital legislation," Tom Bené, NRA president and CEO, said in the release. "The Senate version of the bill helps the widest array of restaurants which are all facing the same economic roadblocks. This important difference will mean that irrespective of their business model, more small business restaurant owners can hope for survival."

The RESTAURANTS Act follows the form of a recovery fund that the NRA first called for in a letter to Congress on March 18, just days after the industry was forced to shut down due to the pandemic. That measure was refined in the Blueprint for Restaurant Revival. The fund would provide vitally needed immediate access to capital that would allow restaurants to endure. Between March and June, the industry lost more than $145 billion in sales and is on track to lose more than $240 billion by the end of the year.

According to Association research, at the height of the pandemic, 93% of restaurants in Schumer's home state of New York reported losses in sales and 80% of the state's restaurant employees had been laid off or furloughed.

"The New York State Restaurant Association thanks Sen. Schumer for his support of restaurant owners and employees — both here in New York and across the country," Melissa Fleischut, New York State Restaurant Association president and CEO, said in the release. "The restaurant industry is a vital and important economic engine in every community across our state. The support small business owners would get from this bill would be felt not only in our dining rooms but by other small business owners who help us make sure there is always a place at our tables."