Posted: | May 18, 2020 03:44 PM |
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From: | Senator Lisa M. Boscola |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Establishing a COVID-19 Recovery Fund for Restaurants, Taverns and Clubs |
I plan to introduce legislation which seeks to utilize federal funds for COVID-19 to directly aid tens of thousands of Pennsylvania restaurants and small businesses. Specifically, this initiative would use $200 million of CARES Act funds to the Commonwealth to establish the Independent Tavern, Restaurant and Club Stabilization Fund. The purpose of this fund is to provide short and long term financial relief as grants to our state’s bars, restaurants, clubs and public venue/performing arts licensees. Projections from both the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association as well as national associations predict that many small businesses in the hospitality industry will not survive due to COVID-19 shutdown. This issue is not only about the closures which many have dealt with over the past months, but also in the anticipation that customer volume will never be the same pace as it was prior to the pandemic for some time. These businesses are critical to the vibrancy of our neighborhoods and our cities. They are often difficult to finance because they are risky even in the best of economic times. With the anticipated capacity limitations and uneasiness for a restaurant setting for the coming months we need to pay extra attention to help make certain that these restaurants survive and thrive. With that in mind, the legislation will have the following approaches:
This legislation is one more of several which I plan to introduce aimed at helping this industry. These businesses are critical to our local economies, they employ hundreds of thousands of people, they generate ancillary jobs and businesses in industries which supply them, farmers, harvesters, brewers, distillers, fishermen, cleaners, equipment suppliers, alcohol distributors and the Pennsylvania Wine and Spirits retail stores. Please join me in sponsoring this legislation. |