The House has passed H.R.3807, the Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard Hit Small Business Act of 2022.  The Bipartisan bill will release $55 billion to small businesses and establish new programs from those impacted by COVID.  Representative Nadya M. Velazquez (D-NY) stated “This bill will deliver long-awaited aid to hundreds of thousands of restaurants and other small businesses that have been hit hard by the pandemic.  The sooner this bill is signed into law, the sooner these businesses can begin to move forward and advance our recovery.”

The Relief for Restaurants Act of 2022 will provide $13 billion to assist small businesses with 200 or fewer employees, that have lost more than 40 percent in revenue.  Funds will be available to assist entertainment venues that were shuttered during COVID restrictions.  Approximately $30 million will be made available to the Small Business Administration Inspector General Fraud Enforcement Task Force to investigate and recover illegally claimed funds.  The program will be supported by money recovered from fraud cases arising from pandemic relief.