U.S. Senators Float New Covid Relief for Restaurant Industry

(Bloomberg) -- Two senior senators are floating a new round of Covid-19 aid for U.S. restaurants and other service businesses hurt by the surge of infections caused by the omicron variant.

Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, head of the Small Business Committee, said he is working with Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker to build support for another relief package. They said the cost of the bill is still under discussion.

“The restaurant money is a fairness issue. Some restaurants got it and others did not,” Cardin said Wednesday, referring to past federal support during the Covid-19 crisis. “We started with restaurants but we are prepared to expand it if there is sufficient support.”

The March 2021 American Rescue Plan included $28.6 billion in grants for struggling restaurants, but the money ran out in October before many of those businesses received money.

“Fully half of the eligible restaurants did not receive money because it was not adequately funded,” Wicker told reporters Wednesday.

The White House was non-committal on new Covid-19 relief spending. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the administration is in “constant discussions” with members of Congress about the needs of the American people, but doesn't have any specific requests.

Cardin and Wicker are crafting standalone legislation that could be attached to a bill that's needed to fund the government after the current stopgap spending measure runs out Feb. 18.

The Senate Appropriations Committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, a lead negotiator on the Feb. 18 funding package, indicated he is skeptical of the relief effort, however, and wants to see whether the money would come in the form of loans or grants and what the funding source would be. He also noted that talks on the wider spending bill remain stalled.