U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s USD 1.9 trillion (EUR 1.6 trillion) stimulus plan, proposed on 14 January, offers financial relief for businesses and the hard-hit restaurant industry.
The “American Rescue Plan” would provide USD 15 billion (EUR 13 billion) to create a new grant program for small business owners, separate from the existing Paycheck Protection Program.
The proposal also includes a USD 35 billion (EUR 29 billion) investment in some state, local, tribal, and non-profit financing programs that make low-interest loans and provide venture capital to entrepreneurs, CNN reported.
Without providing specifics, Biden said he wants to work with Congress to ensure that “restaurants, bars, and other businesses that have suffered disproportionately have sufficient support to bridge to the recovery.”
Biden also supports the FEMA Empowering Essential Workers Act to “help get laid-off restaurant workers across the country back on the job.”
“It is clear President-elect Biden wants to take action to address the unique devastation the pandemic brought to America’s independent restaurant and bar community,” the Independent Restaurant Coalition said in a press release. “We are encouraged by President-elect Biden’s repeated and outspoken support for direct aid to independent restaurants and bars, especially as we remain one of the only industries seeing shrinking employment and closed doors across the country.”
Restaurants and bars have lost over 2.4 million jobs since the start of the pandemic – far more than any other industry, IRC noted. Unemployment in the Leisure and Hospitality sector is 157 percent higher than the national average.
Some of the other proposals in the American Rescue Plan that could impact the seafood industry and their customers, include a national minimum wage hike from USD 7.25 (EUR 6.00) per hour to USD 15.00 (EUR 12.00) per hour; Stimulus checks of USD 1,400 (EUR 1,100) for every American; A 15 percent increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (the increase was included in December’s economic stimulus legislation but would be extended through September); Raising the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation from USD 100 (EUR 83) to USD 400 (EUR 331); Providing “generous” hazard back pay for essential workers, particularly grocery and retail employees.
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