Let Restaurant Dive's free newsletter keep you informed, straight from your inbox. Are there any reporting requirements for RRF grant recipients? Nova Inscrio. Something went wrong. According to reporting from CNNs Manu Raju, Senate small business and entrepreneurship committee chairman Ben Cardin said on Tuesday, March 8 that Republican opposition means that the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) will not be replenished. This program provides emergency assistance for eligible restaurants, bars, and other qualifying businesses impacted by COVID-19. The SBA will work with the Department of Justice to disburse the money, according to the NRA. With so many questions surrounding the RRF, we created this resource and guide to provide answers. It includes greater auditing requirements for restaurant grants to prevent fraud, as well as new transparency and customer service provisions to ensure that SBA shares information. Expect to see many more restaurant closures in the coming months. 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 government closed restaurants and bars because they were considered particularly apt to endanger the public by spreading the coronavirus, so the public should compensate everyone for losses suffered on the publics behalf. Hes also encouraged people to stop working from home and head back into their offices in an effort to move forward after two years of absolute chaos and devastation. from 8 AM - 9 PM ET. What to do? "After navigating an unpredictable supply chain, multiple COVID-19 surges, and dealing with revenue-hampering restrictions, these businesses have two years of crushing debt," Erika Polmar, the IRC's executive director, said in a statement. This news doesnt exactly come as a surprise, but earlier this year, there was some hope that more money was coming. Wenn Sie Ihre Auswahl anpassen mchten, klicken Sie auf Datenschutzeinstellungen verwalten. The House already has passed H.R. The 177,000 restaurants that applied but didn't receive RRF funding represent around 20% of the industry, according to the National Restaurant Association, suggesting another round of restaurant-specific federal grants could improve the industry's recovery. The freshest news from the food world every day. In January 2023, SBA stated that it was weighing potential solutions, such as adding functionality in the RRF platform to allow recipients to report their operating status. CPF, documento de identificao ou Cdigo da Conta. Lawmakers approved the measure in a 223-203 vote, with only about a handful of Republicans backing it. SBA does not immediately investigate all potentially fraudulent awards, and instead waits for recipients to submit final reports (which might not be until April 30, 2023). (Recommendation 2), The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should develop and implement policies and procedures for addressing RRF recipients who do not meet annual reporting requirements. Would a grant recipient ever have to pay back any of the funds? Six weeks ago six weeks of economic recovery ago Britschgi noted that in general, there are more small businesses open today than existed before the pandemic. And almost all government-dictated restrictions on commerce have ended. Forty-three Senate Republicans, objecting to the fact that only a smidgen of the Senate bills cost would be offset by economies elsewhere, on May 19 prevented there being 60 votes to proceed with it. This recommendation will remain open until SBA provides evidence of conducting data analytics across RRF awards to detect potentially fraudulent recipients. 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. If you are the site owner (or you manage this site), please whitelist your IP or if you think this block is an error please open a support ticket and make sure to include the block details (displayed in the box below), so we can assist you in troubleshooting the issue. Hence the Replenishment Act. If H.R. Keep reading to learn more about RRF grant updates, eligibility, RRF forgiveness, and more. Nearly 300,000 restaurants and bars applied for grants through the program last year, according to the Small Business Administration, but only a third of applicants received relief. 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. In January 2023, SBA stated that it follows standard operating procedures to refer suspicious activity to the OIG. Stay up to date on the news from Silicon Valley, and how to take back control of your data and devices. We sponsor the industry's largest trade show (National Restaurant Association Show); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart). The age of the Silicon Valley moonshot is over. After congress walked away from the funds replenishment in March 2022 and the Senate failed to pass the replenishment in May 2022, 177,000 establishments were left without aid. Even the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, with its paltry $28.6 billion in initial funding, wasnt enough to meaningfully help most establishments. Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) Updates. "We hear from restaurants and bars owners each day who applied for a grant and never received one. The U.S. House and Senate passed a bill, S.4008, which would've added $40 billion to the plan - a significant increase over the approximate $29 billion originally proposed in the RRF. They have until March 2023 to spend the money. The House is expected to vote on the bill,which has a mix of 234 Democratic and Republican sponsors, this week. Among the 435 congressional districts, surely not one lacks businesses eligible for aid, especially from the Senate bill. The SBA is set to award an added $180 million in unspent funds allocated for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) back in 2021. Past-due expenses qualify as RRF expenses. Assessing controls and addressing deficiencies would help SBA better ensure program integrity. But it flagged 4,000 award recipients for suspected fraud and isn't taking timely action to address them. Operators receiving funds should receive notification today and SBA will begin transmitting the grants next week. Four mistakes youre making with home internet. Outdoor diners at the Bit and Spur Saloon in Springdale, Utah, in summer 2020. Realizar Login. According to the Small Business Administration, which handles the fund, restaurants and other eligible businesses can receive funding "equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location." There are steps the government can take to support restaurants in every community, and we will continue to press for solutions at the federal, state, and local level.". The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to provide funding to help restaurants and other eligible businesses keep their doors open. No later than December 31, 2021, all recipients are required to report to the SBA how much of their RRF grant has been used against each eligible use category. How many restaurants originally benefited from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund? As such, well continue to see the consequences of that failure in the coming months. www.arffinancial.com/updates-to-the-restaurant-revitalization-fund/, Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/103.0.0.0 Safari/537.36. SBA took steps to detect fraudulent or ineligible applications. There comes a point where the right policy is: Stop smoothing. Including $85 million for certain border region businesses, such as those in (herewith a geography lesson) the Northwest Angle, which CQ Roll Call explains is a region of Minnesota that is separated from the rest of the state by the Lake of the Woods but shares land borders with Canada, whose strict pandemic protocols injured Americans living in the Angle. The sector still has myriad challenges ahead, but a glimmer of hope as Congress is expected to vote on further aid on May 19a $48 billion bill that would fully fund the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Publicly Released: Jul 14, 2022. In January 2023, SBA stated that recipients have until March 2023 to exhaust RRF funds. While SBA prevented over 30,000 suspicious applications from receiving awards, GAO identified systemic control weaknesses. This recommendation will remain open until SBA develops and implements a plan to respond to potentially fraudulent and ineligible awards in a prompt manner. Nearly 1 year ago, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RFF) stopped taking applications. "With the looming threat of another variant and growing challenges of inflation for both operators and consumers, the economic boost RRF will provide for those 177,000 restaurants would reach far into our communities," Sean Kennedy, NRA's executive vice president of public affairs, wrote in the letter. 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.. According to the SBA, the RRF provided $28.6 billion to more than 100,000 restaurants, bars, and other businesses that provide on-site food and drink. 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. In 2022, many RRF updates are in the works. By June 2021, the funds $28.6 billion had been disbursed to 100,000 applicants in grants averaging $283,000. 3807, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021. Follow. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund was established in March 2021 to support eligible entities suffering revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. Restaurant Industry News and Resources in Georgia. "We must continue to look forward because the enormous challenges of the industry will continue beyond today. And by the third quarter of 2021, Britschgi writes, the number of restaurants had surpassed pre-pandemic levels.. If the recipient fully expends their funds prior to December 31, 2021, they will be asked to certify that proceeds have been used on eligible expenses. Nevertheless, the Replenishment bill barely passed the House 223 to 203 in April, with only six Republicans favoring it and only four Democrats opposed. Published May 24, 2022 Thai Phi Le Senior Managing Editor Realizar Login. According to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the amounts received from the SBA in the form of a Restaurant Revitalization Grant shall not be included in gross income (non-taxable); additionally, the expenses incurred are deductible. Lawmakers. Initially, nearly $29 billion was appropriated to award eligible restaurants and other establishments to help their businesses in the wake of the pandemic. The act illustrates a timeless truth legislative bargaining is additive. Is the grant money taxable and are the expenses deductible? Dont do that. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund was established in March 2021 to support eligible entities suffering revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. Optimal accounting solutions for small, medium, multi-unit concept, franchise, and enterprise restaurant operators. 1101 W. Mineral Ave. Ste. From independent operators to hospitality groups, most are disappointed and some are angry that there remains no federal aid to support struggling restaurants. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Subscribe to Restaurant Dive for top news, trends & analysis, The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines, Permission granted by Starbucks Workers United, The Bornk Tuna Sandwich is Back at Erbert & Gerbert's, Olo and Flybuy Strategic Partnership Launches New Premium, Integrated Olo Expo and Order Fire , Interface Announces Technology Acceleration Program for Franchise Brands & Franchisees, CBS NorthStar and Ovation Join Forces to Boost Restaurant Brands' Revenue, By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our, Webinar But, then, weapons systems have been purchased because suppliers of components were spread across the country like tapenade on toast. LISTEN TO THE QUICK UPDATE PODCAST BELOW! Sie knnen Ihre Einstellungen jederzeit ndern, indem Sie auf unseren Websites und Apps auf den Link Datenschutz-Dashboard klicken. 3807), which would refill the Restaurant Revitalization Fund with $42 billion, was reintroduced in a Rules Committee meeting in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.