Murray Urges Senate To Pass Restaurant Relief With COVID Relief Funds

WASHINGTON — Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) is urging her fellow congress members to pass both restaurant and general COVID-19 relief funding programs, saying that both are critical to Washingtonians.

The first bill, the Continuing Emergency Support for Restaurants Act, would set aside $48 billion more in funding for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, to help restaurants who may have missed out on earlier relief funding, or those who still need more support.

“For many restaurant owners, the funds were gone before they were able to get the same relief their neighbor got,” Murray said in an address to the Senate Wednesday. “I just don’t think it’s right that a business on one side of the street in Seattle got federal dollars from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, but another mom and pop shop just next door—just as qualified, that also got approved—didn’t get the money because the funds ran dry.”

The Continuing Emergency Support for Restaurants Act is under negotiations alongside a $22.5 billion COVID-19 relief package requested by the White House called the COVID-19 supplemental. Murray argues that both programs will be critical in supporting businesses and everyday Americans as they try to pull themselves out of the economic slump caused by the pandemic, and that both should be passed together.

“We all know we have got to get funding for a COVID supplemental passed and soon,” continued Senator Murray. “So let’s get both passed together to make sure we are doing everything to keep every part of our economy up and running and that this administration has what it needs to fund every other tool we know will keep restaurants open, keep schools open, and every other part of our communities. I feel very strongly we need to pass both bills, so why not get them both done together and as soon as possible. Let’s keep America healthy and our restaurants open for business.”

Murray is hot on the heels of a big win: in mid-March, her Sunshine Protection Act made it through the Senate after several failed attempts. The act would make Daylight Saving Time permanent, and avoid having to change our clocks back come fall.