Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Vang says the funds helped her to strategize. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund was introduced as part of President Biden's American Rescue Plan, funneling billions directly to independent restaurants. The SBA, tasked with managing the relief funds, announced on May 10 that 16,000 businesses were approved for grants totaling $2 billion in just the first week. Greer prepared an application on behalf of his restaurant, is eligible for a grant from the RRF, but has not applied because he is barred from consideration altogether during the program's first twenty-one days from May 3 to May 24, 2021. In 2018, Michigan had 16,543 eating and drinking places, according to state data from the National Restaurant Association. The lawsuit was filed by a legal advocacy group called America First Legal, founded by Stephen Miller and Mark Meadows, both aides to former president Donald Trump, on behalf of a Keller restaurant called the Lost Cajun. The communication did not say whether the SBA would pursue a judicial or legislative remedy. Thus, the lawsuit alleges, its possible that the entire $28.6 billion that Congress allocated to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund will be depleted before Nyman Related: SBA data confirms that the current Restaurant Revitalization Fund cant meet demand. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) suedon behalfof Antonio Vitolo, the owner of Jake's Bar and Grill in Harriman, Tennessee,according to the Hill. (Note: the Reuters piece refers to the restaurant as Blessed Cajuns, which is the limited liability corporation that operates the Lost Cajun.). The lawsuit claims the agency discriminated against defendant Antonio Vitolo, who owns Jake's Bar and Grill in Harriman, Tennessee, because as a White man he was not eligible for priority treatment, even though his wife and co-owner is a Hispanic woman. The funds, she said, will help her reinvest. Doing so will promote equal rights under the law for all American citizens and promote efforts to stop racial discrimination, the lawsuit adds, mirroring language included in AFLs lawsuit filed late last month against the Department of Agricultures program to provide aid to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers., Ina statement announcing the new lawsuit Thursday, Miller said, Few industries have been harder hit by lockdowns and restrictions than the restaurant and bar industry.. Greer filed suit, claiming that the SBAs policy violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. His earlier misses? Yet, as these restaurant owners, operators and workers try to pick up the pieces and rebuild their businesses, they are facing a new and insidious threat: racial discrimination from the government, he argued. We will fight it wherever it shows up," said the institute's President and General Counsel Rick Esenberg in a statement. This is not the first lawsuit filed against a federal program aimed at helping disadvantaged groups hurt by the pandemic. The Bill furthermore constructed a government and bill of rights for the island and allowed its residents to serve in the U.S. military.In 1952, the rights of Puerto Rico and its residents were further extended when the island promulgated its own constitution. Terms Of Use, Federal Race-/Sex-Based Restaurant Revitalization Fund Grants Blocked, The Government Is Subsidizing Microchip FirmsWhile Making It More Expensive To Produce Microchips, Fox's Excuses Reinforce Dominion's Defamation Case, FDA Cracks Down on Animal Tranquilizer That Is Sometimes Mixed With Fentanyl, Ohio Woman Says Cops Broke Her Wrist for Recording During Traffic Stop, DeSantis' Disney Drama Turns Culture War Into Political Gains. The SBA has argued that the decision in this case is moot because the funds have already been mostly distributed. As to race-based classifications, Plaintiffs challenge SBA's implementation of the "socially disadvantaged group" and "socially disadvantaged individual" race-based presumption and definition from SBA's Section 8(a) government-contract-procurement scheme into the RRF- distribution-priority scheme as violative of the Equal Protection Clause. Instead, the next day, she received an email stating that her grant was canceled. The judge granted the restraining order, directed Greer to file his application with the RRF before May 19, and enjoined the SBA to process and consider his application. Vitolo applied to receive federal relief from the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund that was created as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Its estimated that 1 in 6 restaurants across the country permanently closed due to the pandemic. Business owners who spent months waiting for relief eagerly moved forward: The owners of a small wine bar in Brooklyn told their landlord that they'd soon pay the 15 months of back rent they owed. According to the lawsuit, Janice Smith and Jason Smith applied for assistance from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund on May 5 and discovered that they were entitled to more than $187,000 in relief. 2023 www.freep.com. The judge wrote that Congress has gathered myriad evidence suggesting that small businesses owned by minorities have suffered more severely than other kinds of businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the Governments early attempts at general economic stimulus disproportionately failed to help those businesses directly because of historical discrimination patterns., Similarly, McDonough said Congress had before it evidence showing that woman-owned businesses suffered historical discrimination that exposed them to greater risks from an economic shock like COVID-19, and that they received less benefit from earlier federal COVID-19 relief programs.. In our April interview, Administrator Guzman said she expected the money to run out and encouraged all eligible businesses in both the priority and non-priority groups to apply as soon as possible, in part to help demonstrate need. A US federal judge issued a preliminary ruling Tuesday in favor of a white male restaurateur who claimed he had been discriminated against in connection to his To date, more than 100,000 restaurants have received $27.4 billion in relief funds. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. The group is appealing the decision. Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021 On June 11, 2021, Congress introduced the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021 to replenish the fund with $60 billion. The SBA said it had $50 billion in unfilled applications from hundreds of thousands of restaurants made before the initial $28.6 billion was exhausted. The $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund has only been processing and funding requests from businesses owned by women; veterans; or socially and The RRF is aimed at aiding restaurants, an industry decimated by the pandemic. As part of the SBAs response to the rulings, restaurants party to the lawsuits received grants on June 1. We've never been in that position before," said Mariah Pisha-Duffly, a co-owner. Expertise: restaurant technology and operations. They had applied for federal relief during the first 21 days of the Revitalization program, when priority was given to those groups because they were regarded as particularly in need of financial assistance. "You know not to depend on stuff until it's in your account but when you get an official letter, an official approval in a grant program from the government you have reason to believe you can count on it," she said. Get todays need-to-know restaurant industry intelligence. For the first 21 days, the fund was open for applications from women, individuals who are economically or socially disadvantaged, and veterans. Of the applications, 57% came from women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged business owners, who had already applied for $29 billion in the $28.6 billion program by May 12, the SBA has said. The SBA will not pay these claims because the legal conclusions in these court rulings would preclude payment. "Socially disadvantaged individuals are those who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities. From yesterday's decision by Judge Reed O'Connor in Greer's Ranch Cafe v. Guzman (N.D. In the suit, the Lost Cajun owners Janice Smith and Jason Smith, along with Pennsylvania restaurant owner Eric Nyman, allege that the Small Business Administrations plan to distribute pandemic relief funds to small businesses is unconstitutional. | Restaurants in Texas and Tennessee filed lawsuits against the SBA, arguing thatprioritizing the Restaurant Revitalization Fundtogroups based on race and gender is unconstitutional. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on June 11 ordered a halt to payments from the Small Business Administrations Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which is part of President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan passed by The evidence submitted by plaintiffs indicates that the entire $28.6 billion in the Restaurant Revitalization Fund may be depleted before plaintiffs application can be THE HILL 1625 K STREET, NW SUITE 900 WASHINGTON DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 TEL | 202-628-8503 FAX. The pause in disbursement prevents more than 2,900 of those businesses from receiving COVID relief funds allocated in the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, according to Reuters. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, according to the Hill , on June 10 introduced the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021 to add an additional $60 In response to questions from The Hill on the recent legal complaints, the SBA said it does not comment on pending litigation. According to a court filing, the last priority applications were processed on May 27 and the rest of the money in the fund was re-allocated to non-priority applicants. /sites/all/themes/penton_subtheme_nrn/images/logos/footer.png. Under the Biden restaurant relief program, restaurants and bars can qualify for grants equal to their pandemic-related revenue losses, with a cap of $10 million per business and $5 million per location. Over the weekend, the SBA notified 2,965 previously approved priority Restaurant Revitalization Fund applicants in a form email that it will be unable to pay the promised grants due to the outcome of the lawsuits in Texas and Tennessee thatbarred the SBAfrom distributing grantson the basis of race and sex. The three business owners that sued the U.S. Small Business Administration on the grounds of discrimination for the Restaurant Revitalization Funds 21-day priority period of women and minority-owned businesses have received in total nearly $1 million in Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants, The New York Times reported. The broad statistical disparities cited by the government are not nearly enough., The dissenting opinion of the Sixth Circuit panel argued that the Biden Administration offered substantial evidence proving that minority-owned businesses were more vulnerable to economic distress than businesses owned by white entrepreneurs.. A group of farmers sued the federal government charging the administration's efforts to help minority farmers through a COVID-related loan forgiveness program was discriminatory. The Biden administration has vowed that it will continue to fight the Texas judges injunction in court, but it remains a mystery when Restaurant Revitalization Fund applicants who applied as socially disadvantaged individuals will be able to receive the funds they need. Nashville, Tennessee A federal judge has ruled against a conservative legal group that sought an immediate halt to the priority status for restaurants and bars owned by women and certain minorities in President Joe Bidens COVID-19 relief package. Number 8860726. Thursdays lawsuit from America First Legal (AFL) specifically takes issue with the Small Business Administrations (SBA) handling of the $28.6 billion in the Restaurant Other restaurant owners report a similar experience: After days of calls, emails, and messages through the SBA portal and reassurance that the money was still coming, the grants were rescinded. We remain committed to doing everything we can to support disadvantaged businesses in getting the help they need to recover from this historic pandemic and restore livelihoods.". There was no word from the Justice Department on whether they would appeal the ruling. After filing his request for funding, Vitolo was told women and minority restaurant owners would be prioritized during the first 21 days of fund disbursement, which began on May 3. And its cuts must be informed by data that suggest intentional discrimination. A little over a week later, more restaurant owners received emails telling them that their previously approved grants would not be disbursed. In February, I joined local Rochester area restaurateurs to announce my sponsorship of H.R. "All the lawsuits go away if the fund is refilled, because everyone receives their money.". The latest from Restaurant Business, sent straight to your inbox. A restaurant group in Detroit gave all of its workers a week off, fully paid. However, the SBA has a mandate to prioritize applications from women, veterans and persons from socially and economically disadvantaged groups for the first 21 days of the program. Miller went on to say that the decision from the Biden Administration to determine eligibility and priority for restaurant relief funds based upon race is profoundly illegal and morally outrageous.. It wherever it shows up, '' said Mariah Pisha-Duffly, a co-owner not say whether the SBA will pay. 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