Seattle Restaurateurs and Chefs Voice Concerns Over Aspects of Federal Stimulus Bill

Relief for those impacted by COVID-19 looks to be on the way, in the form of a federal stimulus plan — but it remains to be seen whether independent Seattle restaurants will fully benefit. On Friday, Congress voted to pass a massive $2.2 trillion stimulus bill intended to assist workers and businesses across the country who are most affected by the pandemic, and President Trump signed it into law. The bill includes a section called the Keeping Workers Paid and Employed Act, in which small employers will be eligible to draw from a pool of $377 billion in loans that will be forgiven for those who use the money to hire workers.

But the fine print could cause issues for independent Seattle restaurants. First is that the act defines small businesses eligible to receive loans as any company that employs 500 employees or fewer per location. So large chains are theoretically drawing from the same pool as mom-and-pop shops.

The bill also states that the businesses looking to obtain loan forgiveness must hire back all their employees by June 30. If they do not, the forgivable portion of the loans decreases by a certain percentage. It’s worth wondering whether restaurants will qualify if Washington’s current stay-at-home order is extended well past the current April 8 cutoff, as Gov. Jay Inslee indicated it might be, and are unable to hire back their temporarily laid-off workers in that timeframe.

Earlier this week, a coalition of area chefs and owners called Seattle Restaurants United pleaded for the House of Representatives to make modifications to the bill. The campaign — including chefs Renee Erickson, Mutsuko Soma, Edouardo Jordan, Tom Douglas, Kristi Brown, Brian Canlis, and many others — focused primarily on the definition of small businesses, with the employee cap of 500 per location. The hashtag #sizematters made the rounds across the country, as independent owners worried that they may be left with scraps if large chains draw from the same pool of money as they do. Many of these concerns are shared widely across the industry.

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