Pritzker seeks COVID relief for restaurants, bars
Durbin cheers progress on Senate floor, but rails against corporate-immunity provision
Gov. Pritzker is calling on Congress to include relief for restaurants and bars under the Restaurants Act in any additional COVID relief package. (Illinois.gov)
By Ted Cox
Gov. Pritzker appealed Tuesday for Congress to include COVID-19 relief for restaurants and bars in any additional coronavirus relief package.
At his daily coronavirus briefing at the Thompson Center in Chicago, the governor said he wanted to “weigh in” on Senate debate on the issue, even as Sen. Dick Durbin was speaking on the Senate floor on a new $908 billion proposal. But restaurants and bars weighed most heavily on Pritzker’s concerns.
“I want to urge the Congress to step up and include in the stimulus package support for restaurants and bars that have been so hard hit by the virus,” Pritzker said. “Millions of Americans have lost their jobs because certain businesses — through no fault of their own — had to shut down or severely downsize because this virus can spread more easily in those setting than in others.
“If we want to rescue millions of jobs and entrepreneurs and help them get through the next six months as we go about distributing the vaccines, the Congress must include the Restaurants Act in the stimulus package,” he added.
Chicago restaurateur Rick Bayless is circulating a public letter to congressional leaders in support of the Restaurants Act through the Independent Restaurant Coalition. According to the letter, “In just the second quarter of 2020, restaurants lost over $220 billion in revenue and received less than 18 percent of those losses in relief from the Paycheck Protection Program. Since then, 1 in 5 people who remain unemployed today (over 2.1 million) are restaurant workers, more than any other industry, and 1 in 6 restaurants have had no choice but to close and leave many families unsure where they will get a paycheck for the foreseeable future.”
According to the letter, the Restaurants Act “would fix the problems with PPP and give restaurants and bars a better chance at fully reopening and employing their teams again. It could reduce unemployment by up to 2.4 percent, contribute more than $270 billion to Gross Domestic Product, and give restaurants and bars the confidence they need to get through the winter weather, closures, dining restrictions, and vaccine distribution.”
Bayless is seeking 20,000 signatures on the letter before forwarding it on to Congress. The act already has the support of 214 U.S. representatives and 50 senators, but nonetheless has not cleared the Senate.
On the Senate floor Tuesday, Durbin cheered a bipartisan, bicameral effort to break the logjam on COVID-19 relief by setting up the framework for a $908 billion package. “We have a group of nine senators — five Democrats and four Republicans — on this side of the Rotunda and a similar group on the other side, of House members, who have been trying to find a bipartisan path out of this current situation,” Durbin said. “I want to salute them. … They have tried to find a middle ground, and I believe they have with the $908 billion.
Durbin admitted having reservations, saying, “I’m not happy with a lot of these figures, but that’s what it’s all about in this world of the United States Congress. You come together willing to sit down, listen to the other side, and, if necessary, compromise so that at the end of the day you have something to show for it.”
But Durbin was not willing to readily compromise on Republican demands for the package to include corporate liability immunity on lawsuits related to the pandemic. Expressing his resistance, he called for Republicans not to scuttle negotiations on that one issue. “An issue came up which I believe is really so important,” he said. “We shouldn’t be delayed or diverted from this effort by a debate over liability immunity. For those Republicans who believe liability is an essential part of this package — do not deny unemployment insurance and help to small businesses across America to fight out this battle.”
According to a news release from Durbin’s office, “that immunity shields corporations from accountability for failing to follow a reasonable public-health standard when it comes to protecting workers and customers.”
Durbin also criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for refusing to take part in negotiations and for failing to press for additional COVID relief.
Durbin and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth also called for extension of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, providing benefits to the self-employed and so-called gig workers not covered by conventional unemployment insurance, as well as the Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, which provides an extra 13 weeks of benefits beyond the usual half year. Both those programs are currently set to expire at the end of the year.
According to Durbin’s office, the $908 billion proposal currently includes “funding for state and local governments, unemployment insurance, small businesses, health-care providers, housing and education assistance, and more,” although it did not specifically mention the Restaurants Act.
“States like Illinois are doing what we can to support small businesses with our Business Interruption Grants,” Pritzker said. “But restaurants and bars will have a tough time making it through this winter surge of the virus without federal support.”