Lawmakers continue to press the Small Business Administration on unspent Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant money, calling it “inexcusable” that the agency holds on to money that could go to small-business owners.
At issue is a Government Accountability Office report released in July that showed $180 million in RRF grants remained unobligated. In July 2022, the Government Accountability Office released a report entitled"Restaurant Revitalization Fund: Opportunities Exist to Improve Oversight" stating that, as of June 2022, $180 million of RRF funds remained unobligated.
“It is vital that the agency prioritize this issue and provide relief to the nearly 7,000 applicants that were identified as grant awardees in 2021 but never received funding,”. “We recognize that the balance of the unobligated RRF will not be able to provide support to every small business that requested relief, but it is inexcusable for the Small Business Administration to not dispense every single available dollar to help as many of our nation’s still struggling main street businesses.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Rep. Brian Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Senators Kristen Sinema, D-Arizona, and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., signed the letter.What is the Restaurant Revitalization Fund?