Independent Restaurant Coalition Runs Ad to Support Congressional RESTAURANT Act

August 3, 2020 by Gracie Kreth
Independent Restaurant Coalition Runs Ad to Support Congressional RESTAURANT Act
Ground Zero is a blues club in Clarksdale, Mississippi that is co-owned by Morgan Freeman, attorney Bill Luckett, and Memphis entertainment executive Howard Stovall. (Photo by Deisenbe via wikipedia commons)

WASHINGTON – As Congress and the White House continue to negotiate another package of coronavirus relief, the Independent Restaurant Coalition is stepping up its effort to make sure they are included in the emergency funding this time around. 

This week, the Coalition is running a television and online advertisement, featuring actor Morgan Freeman. 

“Neighborhood restaurants we love are closing everyday, knocking a rung off the ladder of someone’s American dream,” said Andrew Zimmern, a founding member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, host and executive producer of MSNBC’s “What’s Eating America”.

“Nearly 40% of independent restaurants are owned by immigrants,” he said. “They are America’s favorite first job, the top employer of non-white managers, and employ over one million single moms. They are passion projects and community lifelines. They are our family, and we hope this ad reminds Congress of the stakes facing their communities during the pandemic. 

“Independent restaurants simply cannot generate enough revenue to stay open and continue employing 16 million people around the country without relief from Congress,” Zimmern added.

Earlier this summer, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., with Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., introduced the Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive, or RESTAURANTS Act.

The bipartisan bill would establish a $120 billion grant program run by the Department of the Treasury to support operational costs of restaurants, bars, food trucks, catering business, and other food and drink establishments suffering due to the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding would go to help the 500,000 restaurants that aren’t publicly traded and have less than $1.5 million in revenue and would be used to pay rent, mortgage, payroll, personal protective equipment, and other similar costs — determined by comparing the businesses’ 2019 to 2020 revenue. This money will not need to be repaid.

According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurants employ about 11 million people and about 5 million people make up the food supply and delivery chain. The industry accounts for four percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Restaurant consulting agency Aaron Allen & Associates estimated one-third of restaurants will face closure in the United States, and of the Americans who lost their job in the pandemic, one in four were in the restaurant industry. 

With support in both the House and Senate, 165 lawmakers have already signed on to the bipartisan bill, and more are expected to join this week.

“The coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten millions of jobs supported by America’s small and independent restaurants,” Wicker said when he introduced the bill. “These small businesses are hurting because of the costs of restocking perishable foods, retooling their operations, and they still cannot operate at full capacity even as the country reopens. The RESTAURANTS Act would save many of these businesses, benefiting their workers and the farmers, fishermen, distributors, and truckers that rely on them.” 

A+
a-
  • Brian Fitzpatrick
  • coronavirus relief package
  • Earl Blumenauer
  • Independent Restaurant Coalition
  • Kyrsten Sinema
  • Morgan Freeman
  • RESTAURANTS ACT
  • Roger Wicker
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Business

    April 26, 2025
    by Beth McCue
    New Poll Finds Tipping Point on Business Attitudes to Renewable Energy Shift  

    A new poll conducted across 15 countries, by Savanta and commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business... Read More

    A new poll conducted across 15 countries, by Savanta and commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business Coalition  shows overwhelming support for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to renewable electricity.   Powering up: Business perspectives on shifting to renewable electricity indicates a... Read More

    Sell-Off Worsens Worldwide and Dow Drops 1,000 After China Retaliates Against Trump's Tariffs

    NEW YORK (AP) — Stock markets worldwide are careening even lower Friday after China matched President Donald Trump’s big raise in tariffs in an escalating... Read More

    NEW YORK (AP) — Stock markets worldwide are careening even lower Friday after China matched President Donald Trump’s big raise in tariffs in an escalating trade war. Not even a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market, which is usually the economic highlight of each month, was enough to stop the slide. The... Read More

    US Electric Vehicle Industry Is Collateral Damage in Trump's Escalating Trade War

    DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump's tariff blitz has sent shock waves throughout every aspect of the global economy, including the auto... Read More

    DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump's tariff blitz has sent shock waves throughout every aspect of the global economy, including the auto sector, where multi-billion-dollar plans to electrify in the United States are especially at risk. Here's what consumers should know about the impact of tariffs on electric... Read More

    Dow Drops 1,100 as US Stock Market Leads a Worldwide Sell-Off Following Trump's Tariff Announcement

    NEW YORK (AP) — Financial markets around the world are reeling Thursday following President Donald Trump’s latest and most severe volley of tariffs,... Read More

    NEW YORK (AP) — Financial markets around the world are reeling Thursday following President Donald Trump’s latest and most severe volley of tariffs, and the U.S. stock market may be taking the worst of it. The S&P 500 was down 3.3% in early trading, worse than the drops for... Read More

    Stock Market Today: Wall Street Drifts as Auto Tariffs Weigh and Encouraging Economic Data Help

    NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is getting pulled in different directions on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s latest tariff escalation pushes some automakers... Read More

    NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is getting pulled in different directions on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s latest tariff escalation pushes some automakers downward, while encouraging data on the economy helps support the market. The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in morning trading after erasing an earlier loss. The... Read More

    March 24, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    23andMe Announces Pending Bankruptcy Filing

    WASHINGTON — 23andMe, the firm that led the way in allowing consumers to gain ancestry and health insight through the... Read More

    WASHINGTON — 23andMe, the firm that led the way in allowing consumers to gain ancestry and health insight through the simple, at-home collection of their DNA, announced Sunday that it is filing for bankruptcy. The notice was confirmation of the start of the latest sad chapter... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top