As Maryland restaurants continue to feel the pain of dining room closures, an industry group is calling on Congress to create a dedicated fund to support eateries across the country.
Some 40% of restaurants in Maryland are currently closed, and almost 150,000 restaurant workers are unemployed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Restaurant Association of Maryland said Tuesday in a news release.
The trade association and its parent organization, the National Restaurant Association, are asking federal lawmakers to approve the Restaurant and Foodservice Industry Recovery Fund, or RFIRF, to help bail out eateries and their employees. The fund would allocate $240 billion to support the restaurant industry, which is the country’s second-largest private sector employer, according to the release.
Under the proposal, restaurants that have seen their sales revenue fall by at least 25% due to COVID-19 would be eligible to apply for RFIRF funds, which could be used to pay for costs related to government-mandated closures as well as reopening expenses like replenishing inventory and rehiring and retraining workers.