New York City Insider: Espaillat Votes to Secure Additional Relief Funding for New York’s Restaurants and Small Businesses.

 

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release April 7, 2022

Representative Adriano Espaillat Votes to Secure Additional Relief Funding for New York’s Restaurants and Small Businesses.   WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) voted to secure urgently needed relief for small businesses across New York. The Relief for Restaurants & Other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act will deliver $55 billion to replenish funding for New York restaurants. Additional funds will help establish a new program supporting other small businesses impacted by the pandemic. “Small businesses are the lifeblood of New York’s economy and are helping power our historic recovery,” said Rep. Espaillat.  “In our American Rescue Plan, Democrats created the Restaurant Revitalization Fund: a lifeline for nearly 28,000 New York businesses to help them reopen, recover and rehire.  I have met regularly with impacted restaurant owners and workers in my district and know first-hand the challenges the pandemic created for them on a daily basis. Today, I proudly voted for legislation that will provide additional relief and enable restaurants that weren’t able to take advantage of this program the first time to access essential relief in the wake of the omicron wave.  This bill will establish a new program to support New York’s hardest-hit small businesses – delivering assistance to businesses that have suffered revenue losses of at least 40 percent during the pandemic.  Democrats remain laser-focused on Building a Better America, and I will continue fighting to help entrepreneurs keep New Yorkers on payroll and continue serving our communities.”  Established through Democrats’ American Rescue Plan, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) distributed $28.6 billion to restaurants across the country – including $9.6 billion for nearly 28,000  New York businesses.  Due to its popularity, the program quickly exhausted its funding before more than 170,000 eligible businesses could access relief.  The Relief for Restaurants & Other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act will provide $42 billion to replenish the RRF so that these restaurants can apply for this assistance.  This legislation also takes action to support other struggling small businesses: *     Providing $13 billion to establish the Hard Hit Industries Award Program, which will assist New York small businesses with 200 or fewer employees that have experienced 40 percent or more in lost revenue. *     Updating the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program to provide New York entertainment venues with more time and flexibility to use federal relief funds.     Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his third term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities. He is also a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Second Vice Chair and is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where he serves as Deputy Whip. Representative Espaillat also currently serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.