(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced $250 million in ‘Back to Business’ grants to help small businesses across the state recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
It includes $25 million set aside for hotels, but the industry still feels shortchanged.
“It was a fraction of what we had advocated for,” Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, said Thursday. “We're not going to complain about any assistance they're willing to provide hotels, but it's not nearly enough to help save some of these hotels from foreclosure.”
Unlike other businesses in the hospitality industry, hotels have yet to bounce back from the pandemic, he said.
Jacobson tells WBBM Newsradio that Illinois came in dead last in hotel occupancy for the month of June across the entire country.
“In Chicago, revenue is still down 60% from where it was in 2019,” he said.
His organization testified before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Thursday afternoon, asking for more financial aid.
“Instead of having us under the umbrella of all the other business support programs, dedicate funds solely to hotels at the tune of $250 million and make every hotel statewide eligible to apply,” Jacobson suggested.
Right now, hotels are only eligible for state assistance if they earned less than $35 million in 2019.
While that number may seem high, Jacobson notes it’s the larger hotels that are hurting the most.
In Illinois, the hotel industry normally generates $4 billion annually in state and local tax revenue.
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