Sen. Kaine pushes to help restaurants with post-COVID relief
LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — Restaurant recovery post-COVID: that's one Virginia lawmaker's goal in the upcoming legislative session.
Staffing shortages, supply chain issues, COVID-recovery, and now inflation.
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A perfect storm of struggles the restaurant industry has faced in the last couple of years.
“Definitely the most difficult two years of being in business," said Rodney Taylor.
Senator Tim Kaine said at the height of the pandemic a $28 billion restaurant revitalization fund went out to help restaurants suffering.
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But he said those funds quickly disappeared.
"We think this will probably cover the need and we just dramatically underestimated it," said Sen. Kaine.
Rodney Taylor, owner of Market at Main, unfortunately, wasn't one of the lucky businesses to get the funds, even though he applied the day the relief was released.
“It said application pending and the application, there was no follow-up or way you could check on the status to see if they needed any additional information. It just sat there until all the funds were gone," said Taylor.
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But Taylor is hopeful for the second rollout of funds and says they would be great for his business.
“It would allow us to reinvest in our business, hopefully, hire some more people, even maybe open a new location," he said.
The bill needs at least 60 votes in the Senate to pass, which means it would need bipartisan support.
