Nat'l Restaurant Association Urges SBA to Release $180M in Restaurant Relief Funds

In a letter dated July 27th, the National Restaurant Association has urged the Small Business Administration to release $180 million in undistributed Restaurant Revitalization Fund money to restaurant applicants who didn’t receive grants.

The existence of the leftover money was made public on July 14, when the Government Accountability Office published a report on the RRF. Per this report, $24 million of the funding was designated for litigation, and roughly $56 million came from grants that were returned by restaurant recipients or their financial institutions.

According to the NRA, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which created the RRF, didn’t create a pool of litigation funds for the SBA to administer. The association argues “it would be consistent with the spirit of the law to utilize all unobligated funds to address the RRF shortfall.”

“Every dollar appropriated by Congress for restaurant relief needs to be unlocked and put in the hands of operators struggling to keep their doors open,” said Sean Kennedy, NRA’s executive vice president for public affairs.

To read the full article, visit: https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/leftover-restaurant-revitalization-fund/628336/