Nation

President Biden talks about restaurant and economic recovery by American Rescue Plan

By Yukta Samvedi

In a series of tweets today, President Joe Biden talked about the results of the American Rescue Plan and Restaurant Revitalization Fund which has been covered under it. The first tweet was attached with a 20-minute video of him speaking at the White House about how he visited a Mexican restaurant today to discover and understand the plight of restaurant owners across the United States post the pandemic.

He talks about how brilliantly the American Rescue Plan has performed in two major forms-helping the American public with rescue payments and providing vaccination. Under the plan, 163 million cheques have been issues as direct rescue payments. The cheques amount up to $1400 dollars- which means a family of 4 making $110,000 would be benefited by $5600. The fund is also used in monitoring the COVID-19 vaccination’s administration and distribution with around 220 million shots given within the first 100 days of Biden joining the office. The United States is the first country to move with the progress at this pace and this is the first time a record of this high has been set in American mass vaccination history thanks to the rescue plan, the President said.

Along with reopening up of schools, child poverty being cut in half, and child care centers running in business amidst the pandemic, the President emphasized that the plan is working as it has boosted the American economy and brought it back to track. In a second tweet posted four minutes later, Biden gave a brief of its progress-

However, the President also stated that help is also available for the first hit and the worst-hit sector-the restaurant industry. Even though they adopted many measures to accommodate the stresses created by the pandemic like switching up their menus and providing on-demand delivery services-sales still tanked. President emphasized how this industry has been the most considerate and generous one by adopting the required safety measures to keep their staff and us safe and feeding the frontline workers. He talked about how the restaurant and the bar culture is woven into the American fabric and our families as well since many Americans achieved their ‘American Dream’ through successful family-owned restaurant businesses.

Still, 2.3 million jobs have disappeared in this industry since the pandemic and Biden made this point evident by telling how the family restaurant he visited today gone from having 55 employees to merely 7 employees. Thanks to the rescue plan, as people are getting vaccinated and going back to restaurants and bars, owners have started staffing up again. The vaccination program and restaurant recovery are going hand in hand, the President pointed.

“The American Rescue Plan Act established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to provide funding to help restaurants and other eligible businesses keep their doors open. This program will provide restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. Recipients are not required to repay the funding as long as funds are used for eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023”, as mentioned on the small business administration website. (sba.gov.in)

 

 

Tags: American Rescue Plan Joe Biden Restaurant Revitalization Fund

Yukta Samvedi

"Yukta Samvedi, a business enthusiast and Economics student is currently pursuing her passion for the world of media and commerce by working as a Business and Current Affairs Journalist at USAnewshour."