Restaurant owners in Louisiana are calling on Senator John Kennedy to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund that closed more than 100 days ago. Kennedy supported the $120 billion grant program last year but so far isn’t on board this year. New Orleans Restaurant Owner Neal Bodenheimer said close to three-thousand Louisiana establishments that applied were not funded.
“There are just so many haves and have nots at this moment. I can’t tell you why one business was funded and why three others weren’t. They’re not fundamentally different, it’s just that one was lucky enough to get through and the other three weren’t,” said Bodenheimer.
John Stubbs, with Jewel in the South, said his New Orleans restaurant was starting to build back their business after 2020 but then the Delta variant and Hurricane Ida erased that progress. He’s dependent on the fund now more than ever.
“Simply put with the funds we expected and qualified to receive from the RRF we would be able to continue, and without them, I’m not sure we will,” said Stubbs.
Mounting debts from 2020 and higher food prices due to supply chain issues could force even more than the already 90,000 restaurants and bars across the country to shutter.
Stubbs said they’ve asked Kennedy’s staff why he hasn’t joined Senator Bill Cassidy in co-sponsoring the bill to refill the federal relief program.
“These are political decisions way beyond my level so I’m not sure what the political calculations are for being supportive but not co-sponsoring,” said Stubbs.
According to the Independent Restaurant Coalition, 85% of restaurants and bars reported they did not receive an RRF grant.
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