Rice Calls For Washington To Release Funds For Restaurant Owners

GARDEN CITY, NY — While businesses have new guidelines to open safely and with more customers inside, many owners have dealt with serious financial problems since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, Congresswoman Kathleen Rice (D—NY) is leading the charge for Senate and House leadership to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to adequately provide relief for the first round of applicants, her office said in a statement.

Rice was joined in the bipartisan support with her Long Island congressional delegation, Reps. Gregory Meeks (D—NY), Tom Suozzi (D—NY) and Andrew Garbarino (R—NY), who signed a letter for the leading lawmakers in Washington.

"The pandemic’s devastating impact on the food industry can be seen across Long Island," Rice said in a statement. "As the astronomical demand for the RRF program shows, it’s clear that the initial aid we allocated to help our struggling restaurants will be far from enough to support this critical sector of our economy."

Rice said the funding is vital for community eateries to "come back stronger than before."

The four representatives seek at least $40 billion in supplementary RRF funding to support more than 300,000 business owners who have requested relief.

"Helping our small businesses recover from this pandemic is not a blue or red issue, it’s a United States issue," Kyle Strober, executive director of Association for a Better Long Island, said in a statement. "Our region’s bipartisan coalition makes this point crystal clear to Washington."