Fitzpatrick Helps Introduce Restaurants Act In Congress

NEWTWON, PA —U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican who represents Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district, joined a group of three other legislators Friday to formally introduce the Restaurants Act, which is designed to provide long-term relief to the food and beverage industry hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports.

ABCNews.com reported, Fitzpatrick, who represents Bucks County, another representative and two senators introduced the legislation in the 117th Congress following the Senate's 90-10 vote supporting a budget amendment to establish a dedicated restaurant relief fund.

The Restaurants Act, which is modeled after similar legislation proposed last June, would create a $120 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund to provide relief for a restaurant industry that has lost 2.5 million jobs and seen 110,000 establishments close for good since last March, according to ABCNews.com.

According to BucksLocalNews.com, Fitzpatrick said he believed the Restaurants Act would provide local businesses and their employees with the hope and support needed to survive the pandemic.

"Our independent, local restaurants continued to be hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic," Fitzpatrick said. "Forced to continuously reimagine operations in response to each new ambiguous state dining restriction thrown their way, and often limited to utilizing solely take-out and delivery services, many family operated restaurants in my community and across our great nation have lost thousands of dollars in potential income and have resorted to unprecedented adaptive measures."

Joining Fitzpatrick in introducing the Restaurants Act were: U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican and U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat.

According BucksLocalNews.com, the new legislation would allow business owners to apply for grants to support expenses like: payroll, benefits, mortgages, rent, utilities and building maintenance. The updated proposal also features provisions designed to ensure the integrity of the program.

Read more at ABCNews.com.

Read more at BucksLocalNews.com