The Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) recently announced in a tweet that restaurants have suffered tremendously after COVID-19 restrictions, and the Senate’s vote against an added $40 billion relief fund means they will not be getting more aid from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). 

On May 19, the U.S. Senate voted 52-43 not to advance the Small Business COVID Relief Act of 2022, a report from Eater said. The legislation would have added $40 billion to the RRF to be distributed to restaurants still working to recover from shutdowns and staffing shortages. As many as 90,000 independent establishments have already closed their doors during the pandemic, and the IRC believes that without additional federal funding, more establishments will have to do the same.

The bill was co-sponsored by Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the report said.

“The IRC was born out of the first and darkest days of the pandemic," Erika Polmar, executive director of the IRC, said in a statement released on the organization’s website. “Independent restaurants came together to create a strong collective voice. For two years that voice has spoken forcefully and effectively, advocating for relief. Now that same voice will fight for the issues critical to independent restaurants and will remain engaged in Washington, DC and local communities. And make no mistake, we will keep fighting for a sustainable future for independent restauranteurs, their employees, and the communities they support. We remain grateful to the elected officials and their staffs who have worked tirelessly for independent restaurants, including Majority Leader Schumer, Sens. Wicker, Cardin, and Sinema, Speaker Pelosi and Representatives Blumenauer and Fitzpatrick. There would be no Restaurant Revitalization Fund without their efforts and they will continue to be outspoken champions for neighborhood restaurants in Congress.”

Other organizations including DoorDash were advocating for Congress to replenish the RRF. DoorDash encouraged members of the merchant community to contact their senators and urge them to vote in favor of replenishing the fund.

"We’ll always look for ways to use our voice to support the communities in which we operate, and look forward to partnering with policymakers, stakeholders, and members of our own community on these and other efforts," the company said in a recent release on DoorDash.news.