With 30,000 restaurants nationwide permanently closed and the National Restaurant Association predicting one in six will close by year-end, the House passed the Restaurants Act (officially, the Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed To Survive Act), a move cheered by Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of American President/CEO Michelle Korsmo:
“America’s wine and spirits wholesalers are witnessing firsthand the daily struggles of their restaurant partners as they work around the clock to stay in business — if they’re even permitted to open their doors — making The Restsaurants Act a good first step in providing relief to an industry in crisis.”
WSWA publicly endorsed the Restaurants Act when it was introduced earlier this month, and Korsmo reiterated the organization’s support in a letter to House Democratic Leadership earlier this week. Additionally, Korsmo urged House Leadership to expand restaurant relief to include the full reinstatement of the meals deduction to encourage patronage once establishments can safely reopen.
“There is no doubt that the road to recovery for the hospitality sector is a long one. It could take years for our on-premise partners to reach the economic stability they maintained prior to sweeping closures and limitations to operations due to COVID-19 – if they are able to survive the pandemic at all,” says Korsmo. “While we applaud this effort, we encourage Congress to fully reinstate the business meals expense deduction to help establishments survive in the long-term, especially for a hospitality industry in crisis and for which such activity is a daily part of doing business.”