April 7 (UPI) — The House Thursday passed a bill that would provide $55 billion in additional grants for restaurants and other small businesses.
The bill passed 223-203, with just a few Republicans supporting it. It includes $42 billion for restaurants and $13 billion for other small businesses impacted by COVID-19.
Republicans maintained that the additional pandemic relief money for small businesses is not necessary and claimed the money would worsen inflation.
The money in this bill replenishes the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, created by the Biden American Rescue Plan that became law in 2021. No Republicans in Congress voted for it.
That fund provided $28.6 billion for restaurants hit by the pandemic.
“While these companies are dispersed throughout the country, they are united by a common message: that small firms are still hurting and they are counting on Congress for more support,” House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., told The Hill.
Rep. Early Blumenauer, D-Ore., sponsored the bill. He told NBC News that more than 80% of restaurants that didn’t get a grant are on the verge of permanent closure, according to the Independent Restaurant Association.
The Senate still must vote to pass the bill for it to become law.
In addition to the $42 billion for restaurants in the House bill, it provides another $13 billion for small businesses ineligible for other pandemic relief programs.
