Sharing with you today is an article that ran three days ago in New York Magazine’s Food and Restaurant Blog, “Grub Street:” https://www.grubstreet.com/2020/10/what-is-the-restaurants-act.html. The link to Restaurant Act can be found here: https://wild.house.gov/sites/wild.house.gov/files/RESTAURANTS%20Act.pdf.
This is a bill that has already been passed Congress and now goes to the Senate to provide $120 billion in relief through a grant program that focuses on the small businesses we all want to save.
Here in Lafayette, we enjoy some of the very best restaurants in the East Bay. Our restaurants are our anchors in our downtown. They provide jobs, culture, diversity, sales tax revenue and some really good food. They help bring customers to our downtown. They help with the sustainability of a vibrant downtown community. Chains with 20 or more units and those that are publicly traded are not eligible for these grants. The grants can help with rent, maintenance, salaries and benefits, supplies, utilities, food, debt and other obligations.
Through this pandemic, our restaurants have stepped up and have provided needed services. They have followed the guidelines set by the state and county. They have been creative and responsive to the needs of our citizens. And now they need your help. The length of this pandemic in unknown. PPP funds were used months ago. They need your help. You can order to go, dine outside, buy gift cards or dine indoors with 25% of their dining rooms available. You can also write a letter to our senators urging them to vote for this needed funding.
Kamala Harris: https://www.harris.senate.gov/
Dianne Feinstein: https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me
Let’s join together and protect our small businesses in town. And with over 60 restaurants in town, acting now can’t come soon enough.
Sincerely,
Jay Lifson, Executive Director