(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Chicago Restaurants Coalition is asking President Biden and federal lawmakers to approve an additional $60 billion in Restaurant Revitalization Grants.
During a press conference Thursday morning, the group said if more federal funds aren’t made available, thousands more restaurants, including many in Chicago, will face permanent closure.
“It's the federal government, the state government and city government that essentially shut down the restaurants in the first place during the COVID crisis,” said Roger Romanelli, coordinator of the Chicago Restaurants Coalition. “So it is the essential responsibility of the federal government to adequately and properly fund this program, administer it and save our restaurants from collapse and taking thousands of jobs with them.”
In March, the U.S. government allocated $28.6 billion for RRF grants nationwide, assisting roughly 1 million restaurants.
Romanelli said the program’s funding was insufficient because tens of thousands of restaurants didn’t receive aid.
“There should never have been a class of winners and losers, pitting restaurant against restaurant,” he said. “So, in Chicago, one restaurant gets it down the street and the other restaurant doesn't get it and essentially gets clobbered.”
Joel Nickson owns Wishbone restaurant in the West Loop. He said he applied for Restaurant Revitalization Grants and didn’t receive anything.
“We're just operating on a limited budget and that extra cash would have helped in a lot of ways,” said Nickson. “It would have helped me get back on schedule, it would have helped with some of the maintenance and infrastructure.”
With a Thanksgiving deadline for additional grant money, the Chicago Restaurants Coalition also wants 90% of Chicago to be fully vaccinated in order to boost restaurant sales during the holidays, which were missed last year.
Biden the Chicago area Thursday to push COVID-19 vaccine mandates. He had to cancel a visit here last week because of negotiations wth lawmakers.
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