By Alice Seeley
On April 7, The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $55 billion COVID relief bill. The bill passed by a 223-203 vote, sending it to the Senate. In a shocking turn of events, six Republicans voted yes on the bill, and four Democrats voted no.
This bill will add $42 billion to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a grant program launched to help restaurants, bars, food trucks, bakeries, and other businesses struggling because of COVID restrictions.
The remaining $13 billion will go to the Hard Hit Industries Awards Program. This program gives grants to small businesses that lost at least 40% of their revenue due to the pandemic. The $13 billion is not limited to a particular industry. However, the aid is capped at $1 million per business.
Since the COVID pandemic, around 90,000 restaurants and bars have closed. Nearly 300,000 restaurants and bars applied for aid in 2021, but only one-third received aid.
Even though the bill passed the House, Democrats doubt their ability to win over at least 10 Republicans needed to pass the bill in the evenly split Senate. Senate Minority Whip Sen. John Thune (R-SD) believes it will be hard to get the bill to pass.
“I think right now it’s hard to — as you saw, even with the $10 billion package of new money for Covid — unless they can reprogram or repurpose it, it’s going to be a hard sell,” said Sen. Thune.
“This bill is nothing more than another blue-state bailout,” said Executive Director Heritage Action, Jessica Anderson. “Left-wing governors and mayors destroyed small businesses for two years with endless lockdowns, and now their friends in Congress are looking to reward their bad decisions, to the tune of $42 billion.”
However, with the members of Congress currently on a two-week recess, it can be assumed this bill will not be considered in Congress for some time.
