(Recommendation 5), The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should develop, document, and implement procedures to use enforcement data on suspected fraud in other SBA programs, such as PPP, to identify potential fraud in RRF recipients. About the National Restaurant AssociationFounded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises nearly 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of 14.5 million employees. The Independent Restaurant Coalition, which has spent the last two years lobbying for small restaurants in the face of extreme economic uncertainty, issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the decision to abandon restaurants, calling it catastrophic for these establishments. (Recommendation 3), The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should enhance RRF post-award reporting procedures by adding requirements for recipients to report their operating status. Bei der Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps verwenden wir, unsere Websites und Apps fr Sie bereitzustellen, Nutzer zu authentifizieren, Sicherheitsmanahmen anzuwenden und Spam und Missbrauch zu verhindern, und, Ihre Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps zu messen, personalisierte Werbung und Inhalte auf der Grundlage von Interessenprofilen anzuzeigen, die Effektivitt von personalisierten Anzeigen und Inhalten zu messen, sowie, unsere Produkte und Dienstleistungen zu entwickeln und zu verbessern. The American Rescue Plan created the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the main sponsor of the bill, and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., said Thursday that more than 80 percent of restaurants that didn't receive grants have reported that they are on the verge of permanent closure, citing a survey from the Independent Restaurant Coalition. Writing for Reason, he noted six weeks ago that Open Table, the reservation app, shows that close to 95 percent of restaurants open in 2019 are back to accepting reservations. Publicly Released: Jul 14, 2022. Rescuing restaurants (again) ought to give Congress indigestion, Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates, Alex Murdaughs conviction rested on a fateful phone video. The Senate has a $48 billion bill, with more than restaurants eligible for revitalization: gyms, minor league sports teams, companies that support live entertainment events (lighting and sound technicians, etc. Despite literal years of exhortations from everyone from Tom Colicchio to Elizabeth Warren for Congress to provide aid to restaurants, neither the Biden administration nor Congress has acted in a way to provide meaningful, comprehensive assistance. A similar attempt to refill the RRF was left out of the omnibus spending bill earlier this year. Congress Won't Send Any More Financial Aid to Restaurants - Eater The President has encouraged most people to stop wearing masks in indoor spaces, something that was unthinkable a year ago. Many independently owned restaurants havent been anywhere near profitable since the pandemic began, and its clear that many of them are in a hole that theyll never be able to dig themselves out of. (Recommendation 6), The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should develop and implement a plan to respond to potentially fraudulent and ineligible RRF awards in a prompt and consistent manner. from 8 AM - 9 PM ET. WASHINGTON The House passed a $55 billion bill Thursday that would provide assistance to restaurants and other small businesses that have struggled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Association was first to lay out the plan for a restaurant industry recovery fund to Congress in April 2020. Today's announcement is great news for those 169 operators fortunate enough to receive an RRF grant, but hundreds of thousands more are struggling with uncertainty. The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and includes additional funds for gyms, live venues and transit systems, among other business categories. SBA to disburse $180M in remaining RRF funds | Restaurant Dive SBA agreed or partially agreed with two recommendations. Lawmakers ask SBA for disbursement plan for $180M RRF leftoversThe Latest Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) Updates | 2 p.m. For instance, it prevented over 30,000 suspicious applications from receiving awards. From the recruitment of employees to the constantly rising costs for food, running a restaurant right now is a daily struggle. Everything from labor to packaging to utilities have gotten more expensive, and that ongoing rise in the cost of doing business continues to have a disproportionate impact on small businesses like restaurants. Lawmakers. According to the SBA, the grants are being released to operators in the order their applications were received. 3807 (117th). 1101 W. Mineral Ave. Ste. Please enter a valid email and try again. Realizar Login. The freshest news from the food world every day. While SBA prevented over 30,000 suspicious applications from receiving awards, GAO identified systemic control weaknesses. Access from your Country was disabled by the administrator. Sie knnen Ihre Einstellungen jederzeit ndern, indem Sie auf unseren Websites und Apps auf den Link Datenschutz-Dashboard klicken. It should take place Monday or Tuesday . By June 2021, the funds $28.6 billion had been disbursed to 100,000 applicants in grants averaging $283,000. ET, 5 store-level changes driving the Starbucks union, How 6 restaurant giants are hiking menu prices, Starbucks faces corporate employee revolt, Wendys offers franchisees reduced royalty rate, slashes fees on new restaurants, Bonchon to double US presence within 5 years, NRA: One-third of operators predict ghost kitchens will decline, How Retailers Can Embrace New Collaborations with Brands, Reimagining the dine-in experience with technology, How Restaurants Can Turbocharge Loyalty Programs with Payment Data, Starbucks fired a union organizer. The bill would also put $13 billion toward other businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Would a grant recipient ever have to pay back any of the funds? How many restaurants originally benefited from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund? Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021 (2022; 117th Outdoor diners at the Bit and Spur Saloon in Springdale, Utah, in summer 2020. Consider the House-passed, $55 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act, which could be the No Faction Left Behind Act.. In March 2021, Congress appropriated $28.6 billion to the Small Business Administration to help the food service industry weather the COVID-19 pandemic. the aid could benefit? Payroll costs claimed as ERTC eligible wages, Forgivable payroll expenses on the PPP forgiveness application, Nonpayroll expenses claimed on the PPP Forgiveness application. By the time it closed in July 2021, the RRF gave out just about a third of the grant requests that it received because the demand was so great. SBA requires recipients to report annually on fund use, but has taken limited steps to enforce reporting requirements and identify fraudulent or ineligible awards. I hear from business owners every day who are having to close their doors and since Congress and the White House couldnt see their way to refill the RRF, hundreds more will face the same fate in the coming weeks.. Washington, D.C. - The National Restaurant Association today sent a letter to Congressional leadership encouraging passage of Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) Replenishment if the program comes up for a vote this week. Restaurant Revitalization Fund Award Disbursements, May 3July 1, 2021. Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts. The Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act of 2022 (H.R. The Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting applications and awarding funds in May 2021. This recommendation will remain open until SBA develops and implements policies and procedures for addressing RRF award recipients who do not meet annual reporting requirements. The RRF is actually part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which was established in March 2021.
Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
, Executive Candidate Assessment and Development Program, Business Regulation and Consumer Protection, The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should conduct and document an assessment of the RRF pre-award controls and address or mitigate deficiencies. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning), Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy, Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American, A New Normal Takes Hold; Restaurants Focused on Paths to Continued Growth in 2023, DIRECTV for BUSINESS and National Restaurant Association Team-Up to Enhance the Restaurant Experience and Advance Restaurant Workers. Restaurant Revitalization Fund What's the impact of the Senate's failure to pass RRF? Operators receiving funds should receive notification today and SBA will begin transmitting the grants next week. All rights reserved. Restaurant Owners RRF SBA EIDL Restaurant Revitalization Funds - Yahoo! Taking additional steps to identify and address potentially fraudulent awards in a timely manner could help SBA recover funds. Is the grant money taxable and are the expenses deductible? Recipients cannot claim other expenses paid with RRF grant money as nonpayroll costs for purposes of PPP forgiveness. We noted in our report, however, that SBA's post-award review procedures for RRF state that flagged awards will be reviewed when the recipients certify that they have spent their entire award or after they submit their final use-of-funds report (not when fraud is initially suspected). In January 2023, SBA stated that recipients have until March 2023 to exhaust RRF funds. By June 2021, the fund's $28.6 billion had been disbursed to 100,000 applicants in grants averaging $283,000. Past-due expenses qualify as RRF expenses. This will remain until they fully expend the grant funding or the covered period expires. The Small Business Administration confirmed it will distribute $180 million in unspent money allocated for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund as awards, the National Restaurant Association said in an email to Restaurant Dive. Dont do that. The act illustrates a timeless truth legislative bargaining is additive. Wenn Sie Ihre Auswahl anpassen mchten, klicken Sie auf Datenschutzeinstellungen verwalten. Are there any reporting requirements for RRF grant recipients? Restaurant Revitalization Fund However, for expensesses incurred on February 15, 2020 or after, be careful not to use the following: So long as funds are utilized for eligible applications no later than March 11, 2023, there is no requirement for recipients to repay the funding. Congress is voting on a $42 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund This deadline had many restaurants wondering who is eligible, when to expect additional RRF updates to the legislation, if any additional RRF forgiveness has been granted, and which anti-fraud mechanisms were put in place to determine which claims are legitimate. It's unclear whether Democrats in the evenly split Senate will be able to win over at least 10 Republicans to overcome the 60-vote threshold to end any potential filibuster and pass the measure. RASI will only use your information to contact you about our products and services. That is a serious consideration. For restaurants, its all but certain that the devastation will continue. It is not clear how, when, or to whom these RRF grants will be issued, so do not throw away any correspondence from the SBA because you may be one of the lucky stores to receive an extremely late RRF grant! Recipients are not required to repay the funding as long as funds are used for eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023. Klicken Sie auf Alle ablehnen, wenn Sie nicht mchten, dass wir und unsere Partner Cookies und personenbezogene Daten fr diese zustzlichen Zwecke verwenden. The bill would provide $42 billion to replenish the RRF. 2023 Restaurant Accounting Services Inc. All Rights Reserved. 200Littleton, Colorado 80120. Well, then, what about that will-o-the-wisp, fairness? House passes aid for restaurants, small businesses affected by Covid What to do? "We hear from restaurants and bars owners each day who applied for a grant and never received one. So, in March 2021, seasonal compassion reinforced a political temptation for all seasons Congresss temptation to make life less unfair. Nevertheless, the Replenishment bill barely passed the House 223 to 203 in April, with only six Republicans favoring it and only four Democrats opposed. For more information, please check out our Privacy Policy. The SBA is set to award an added $180 million in unspent funds allocated for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) back in 2021. The restaurant industry was the hardest hit by the pandemic. Two senators and two congressmen signed a letter Tuesday asking the Small Business Administration to update Congress on its plans to disburse $180 million in unallocated Restaurant Revitalization Fund money. In March 2021, Congress appropriated $28.6 billion to SBA for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund to assist the industry. In 2020 and 2021, restaurants, bars, and other food service businesses experienced substantial revenue loss and unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.