Transcripts For CSPAN3 House Hearing On Coronavirus Impact To Restaurant Operations 20240712

I want members to know that i plan to continue this committees long tradition of collegiality and substantive substantive debate, even as we conduct our business from afar. I will continue to work with the Ranking Member mr. Smith and his staff to ensure that the rights of all members are respected in this new virtual format. Before i turn to todays important topic, i want to remind members of a few procedures to help you navigate this new platform. First, consistent with regulations the committee will keep microphones muted to limit background noise. Members are responsible for unmuting themselves when they seek recognition or when recognized for their fiveminute statement. Second, members and witnesses must have their cameras on at all times. If you need to step away from the proceedings, please leave your camera on rather than logging out. Finally, we have several members who are waving on to the subcommittee for todays hearing. Given the large number i will recognize members in an order that represents a balanced ratio beginning with members on the subcommittee and i understand that mr. Smith does not wish to be the first republican member to ask questions. I thank all of you for your continued patience as we navigate this technology in order to continue serving our country together in this great time of need. Without objections, representative dawn bayer is authorized to serve as the chair today in the event that i experience any technical difficulties and cant stay connected. With that ill now turn to the important topic of todays hearing, restaurants in america during the covid19 pandemic. Americas restaurants and restaurant workers are resilient force. They have weathered past recessions and fought their way back after hurricanes and wildfires, but the challenges they face now are unlike anything thats come before it. Restaurants and other places where we gather like theaters, arenas and concert halls, are equally vulnerable or uniquely vulnerable to the Current Public Health crisis. Theyre places where we meet up together and celebrate and conju gait with friends and family, social distancing is a Public Health necessity but cuts at the heart of an industry all about taking care of people by bringing them together. Thats not where the industrys challenges end. Restaurants are making dining spaces safer for their guests and employees, working to comply with the evolving Health Guidance and facing a hit to Outdoor Dining as weather changes. These costs add up and are tough to absorb in an industry where Profit Margins of 3 to 5 are the norm and its before additional costs are added by tariffs and other factors. The toll the virus is taking on restaurants is reverberating throughout the economy. So far covid has claimed over 30,000 restaurants. Its leveled such a direct hit that one in four unemployed americans today are restaurant workers. This was an unforeseeable catastrophe. Before the pandemic the Restaurant Industry was booming with over a million establishment nationwide employing over 15 Million People. The Restaurant Workforce is hit just as hard, if not harder than the owners. Restaurant work is tough and the industry is full of tenacious, young, strong people. Restaurant workers are disproportionately young and people of color and restaurants employ more than a million single moms. These jobs disappeared through no fault of the restaurant workers. Many of whom want to be back at work as soon as its safe. They need our support. Im proud of the pandemic relief measures that this committee and other committees passed to support restaurants and the workers whose jobs disappeared. The Employee Retention tax credit, the 1200 checks and 600 expanded unemployment benefit all helped. They werent perfect, but they did a lot of good. When we passed those bills we didnt know how long the virus would interrupt our economy. We werent sure how deep the recession would dip. We hoped that the virus would be better contained by now and that the economy would be in better condition, but theyre not. Americas restaurants and restaurant workers need another relief package. America needs another relief package. The house passed just such a measure on the 15th of may. The heroes act would approve another expanded round of stimulus checks and continue the 600 per week federal supplement. It would improve the ppp and Employee Retention tax credit and it would help restaurants make rent through a tax credit that i led to, the keeping the lights on act. The senate has wasted more than four months. We have to act now to save this industry before its too late. 85 of independent restaurants may go under before the end of the year if more federal relief doesnt come. This is unthinkable. Restaurants make enormous contributions to our economy and our labor market. But they do more than that. They make our neighborhoods more walkable and vibrant, they help us get acquaint with other cultures and get in touch with our own roots, they give us space to celebrate our lives and even just take our mind off of our daily difficulties. In my district theyre an integral part of our community. Restaurants are fighting to survive and we need to stand with them. I would like to warmly welcome all the witnesses who are joining us today and thank you for what you do. With that i would like to recognize the ranging member mr. Smith of nebraska for the purposes of an Opening Statement. Youre recognized. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, i would like to express my frustration. I am frustrated we are having another hearing under the au pes sus of the select subcommittee while Important Information we will hear, i think its important to note that a majority of what we will hear from our Witnesses Today will have almost nothing to do with what is in our subcommittees jurisdiction. Im frustrated even though were holding this as a subCommittee Hearing so Many Democrats are weighing in to come talk about their political priorities, issues that arent in our jurisdiction. Perhaps we could have a constructed full Committee Hearing on topics within the full committees jurisdiction like discussing tax measures such as the Employee Retention credit, Economic Relief payments and other issues like the impact against Unemployment Benefits on workers and employers. I most frustrated by the primary reason we are here. The democratic leadership seems to prefer organizing these messaging opportunities for members over for members over coming to the table to have a serious conversation about how to most effectively defeat this disease and reopen our economy. Even as we meet it appears the speakers primary interest is holding show votes on another partisan package which will accomplish nothing to help hurting americans, so the speakers members can go home and tell their constituents they did something, even though nothing was done. Its time to start working. The last time we met republicans have ideas on how to help our workers recover. We are committed to defeating the disease and safely reopening our economy. We know there are many areas where we can have bipartisan agreement. We are frustrated just as i know many of our democratic colleagues are frustrated by the willingness of the speaker to hold hostage assistance we agreed to be passed on a partisan basisp we saw this over the summer when she declined the president s offer to continue negotiating a bipartisan covid package. We saw it this week when she pulled out of a bipartisan cr agreement risking a Government Shutdown to hold hostage aid to farmers in my district along with ranchers and ag producers and hungry families. We see it every time she begins a conversation about covid aid demanding a dollar figure rather than sharing priorities for resuming a healthy opening of the United States of america. We must do better. Essential workers including those who work in our restaurants deserve real action. Our witnesses can testify to that. I want to thank our witnesses for being here today. Restaurants are vital to our economy. They provide Economic Opportunity for people of all ages. They provide millions of jobs. My district is number one in the nation in ag pro doduction and nebraska we understand its as important or more important than the initial production. You all do immense work adding value. Thank you for doing what we do. Restaurants, cooks, servers, bartenders, hosts, others, need assistance and i hope we can have a constructive conversation about ways we can help in this jurisdiction with safety and cleaning costs or adjusting the Employee Retention tax credit. We must also keep in mind that restaurants arent the only sector of our economy hurting because of restrictions hurting on travel and public gatherings. Hotels, theaters and sporting venues are a few of the other industries impacted. I would like to ask unanimous consent to include in the record a letter from the national franchisy association and several Hotel Lodging association in support of continuing access to the Payroll Protection Program. Without objection such will be the order. Thank you. Before i yield back, i would like to also ask unanimous consent to include ranking republican bradys opening remarks in the record. Without objection, such will be the order. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses. Thank you, mr. Smith. Im proud that our Committee Chairman is joining us today. His unwavering commitment to the restaurant and Hospitality Industry in western massachusetts is well known and outstanding. I yield five minutes for the chairman for any remarks he would like to make. Chairman neal youre recognized. Thank you chairman thompson and Ranking Member smith, a note to you, mike, for hosting this important hearing. I think were all united in one common purpose today, the recognition and acknowledgement until we defeat this virus we are not going to enter into a full economic recovery. These restaurants are hurting throughout my district in central and western massachusetts and all over the country in urben and rural areas. My heart goes out to those owners and employees and the communities they serve in and, indeed, sustain. Restaurant are neighborhood anchors where people gather not just for a good meal and to connect but they are important job creators. Everybody on this committee should be dismayed by the testimony that was offered by the chairman of the Federal Reserve board. Nobody looks at the Federal Reserve board and says democrats and republicans. His testimony now, as it was before we wrote the cares act, was profound. What he suggested was that the economy is in need of a major infusion of liquidity. Weshg we should all be united around that that testimony. Secretary mnuchin reinforced what jay powell has had to say. Red rose and stringfield or mazos in pits field, the lucky strike, or in williamstown where the bistro and bar was cofounded by one of my constituents nap constituents nancy thomas, all making the same argument and plea. When the covid19 virus stayathome orders and social distancing it had a cataclysmic effect on our nations restaurants and their workers. Currently restaurants contribute to one in four job losses from the covid19 shutdown. Even establishment that have hung on are facing cuts to wages and hours you know how difficult it is in that industry to retain employees. The Payroll Protection Program is part of the cares act providing a financial lifeline to businesses and incentive for Restaurant Owners to keep their workers. Alone in my district, 800 ppp loans were distributed to restaurants that totaled close to 68 million and saved 14,000 jobs. Many restaurant workers are women and people of color marginalized and this program provided peace of mind for them and their families. He im proud of the work that the commonwealth of massachusetts has done that reopened restaurants across the commonwealth. I speak with governor baker almost every day about the need for additional assistance. Saturday night we spent an hour on the phone discussing this matter and hope to report to him this weekend congress is paying attention to the request he has made. Its a good example of how to move forward with properly public guidelines we need to follow. But more is needed to help our nations struggling restaurants. We need to continue to remember that this that anything else is a health crisis. And our nations economy will not bounce back until we beat it, which is with us until it is safe and effective to embrace a vaccine as well. Since march, the ways and Means Committee has taken substantial steps not only to combat the Public Health crisis but to support American Workers and keep our economy afloat. Remember with the cares act only five members of the house of representatives voted against the cares act. Many of those efforts we tried to replicate and included in the heros act and it would help owners and their employees in restaurants as well. It siggly increases the employee tax credit which i will press for as we proceed to new negotiations and it makes it more applicable to employers in types of expenses. The ways and means staff has estimated up to 63 million workers that receive assistance by vigorously embracing the Employee Retention credit. This boosts the ppp as well and it will help em ploirs to pay their employees. The heros act expands paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave and also helps clearly the familys first act that we have embraced at the end of 2021. It provides another round of Economic Impact payments and expangsz of child care and refundable credits helping struggling workers and their families. These are reasonable, effective relief measures and they go a long way to help alleviate more restaurant closures and help workers who are desperate for support and assurance. This is the biggest crisis that the restaurant city has ever faced and the Ripple Effect will be felt through other jobs that support restaurants like food supply chains, farmers, fishermen and, indeed, truck drivers. In my district, its had a double impact. Tanglewood in the berkshires canceled their season and many of the area restaurants were impacted because of it. The effects will be felt all going into this fall season when many tourists usually by the tens and hundreds of thousands flock to the area. The restaurant area and those that support it need certainly now more than ever. We have an obligation to help them and that includes the infusion of more money into our economy. The heros act provides that. I applaud Mike Thompson again, chairman, for his leadership on these important issues and i want to remind all what i said earlier, the Federal Reserve board is not coms priced of democrats and republicans. The testimony offered two days ago by jay powell should have a profound impact on these deliberations. These restaurants simply need help. Thanks to you, mike, for holding this hearing. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Without objection, all members Opening Statements will be made part of the record. Thank you to our distinguished witnesses for taking the time to appear before us today to discuss this very important issue. First we have mayor buddy dyer of orlando, florida. Mayor dyer is the city of orlandos longest serving mayor, having served continuously since his first election in 2003 and one of the longest serving big city mayors in the United States. Before Holding Public office, mayor dyer worked as an environmental engineer. Sondra bernstein is the proprietor of the girl and the fig restaurant in sonoma, california. The fig cafe and wine bar in glen allen, california, and an event space, full Service Catering company and food truck and also a cookbook author and has a podcast dedicated to food. Christine ha is the chef and proprietor of the blind goat restaurant and bravely chef hall in houston, texas. This is miss has first restaurant. An accomplishment made more notable due to her permanent blindness. Miss ha suffers from a result of an autoimmune disease. Following her win she authored a New York Times best selling cookbook, cohosted a cooking show and served as a judge of master chef vietnam. Mario sandoval has worked as a food server in las vegas for 35 years. He has been a member of the Culinary Workers Union local 226 in las vegas since 1982, joining when he was just 16 years old. Saru jayaraman is president of one fair wage, coauthor of the Restaurant Opportunity Center united and director of the Food Laboratory Research Center at the university of california at berkeley. Melvin rodrigue is the 2020 chairman of the National Restaurant association and president and ceo of galatas restaurant in new orleans and baton rouge, louisiana. The new orleans location has been in business since 1905. Hes a former president of the louisiana Restaurant Association. Each of your statements will be made part of the record in its entirety. I would ask you summarize your testimony in five minutes or less. To help you with that time, theres a clock on the screen. If you go over your time, i will notify you with a tap of the gavel or the marking pen. Thank you all again for being here and mayor dyer, well start with you. Thank you, chairman neal, chairman thompson, Ranking Member smith and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. My name is buddy dyer. For the last 17 years ive had the privilege of serving as the mayor of the great city of orlando. Most of you probably know orlandos worlds number one destination for visitors, but we also like to say orlando is one of the best places to live, work, learn, play and run a Small Business. In many ways, orlando is americas new melting pot. A Regional Community where more than 1,000 new residents join us every week seeking unmatched quality of life and unperilled access to opportunity. And theres quite honestly no better example of the strength that comes from our diversity and how we work with great opportunity than our restaurants. Plain and simple, orlando is a restaurant town. Were home to the headquarters of some of the most iconic brands of the world, darden, red lobster, and popular emerging brands such as four rivers barbecue and hawkers asian street fair. Equally important were home to a vibrant downtown and many main street small districts that are quarters that are filled with family owned restaurants whose owners are living the American Dream every day, making incredible food, adding to the unique and diverse culture of our city while providing our restaurants with places to make memories, with friends and family while sharing a meal. Our restaurants scene is why Chicago Tribune and other publications began citing orlando as one of the best foodie cities in america. Our restaurants and the ecosystem that supports them are a vital part of our local economy, foundational part of our culture and im here on behalf of these diverse restaurants and everyone who is part of it. Im here on behalf of our main street Small Business owners in orlando, Small Businesses all across america and to deliver the distress call, our restaurants are in trouble and they need your help. On a local level weve partnered with our restaurants to think outside the box over the last several months to help them with ways to stay afloat during the crisis. Weve expanded Outdoor Dining into parking lots and sidewalks and parks, weve turned many of our city streets into restaurant parks and expanded carryout alcohol sales, weve done everything we can think of from the local government standpoint and at this point, more than a third of our Restaurant Workforce has been laid off or furloughed or operators dont know when or if they will be able to bring them back. Our restaurants need your help. The members of the subcommittee, i wish each of you could take a walk with me through one of our Small Business districts and you would hear powerful stories about what it means to put everything you have into a business, into a dream. Right now you would hear stories of perseverance and strength, you would hear what its like to work harder than you ever thought possible to endure the last seven months of a pandemic to keep your business open and employees on staff. Youll hear how much they want to operate safely and youll hear desperation, what its like to be scared about the future and not know how much longer you can hold on. I know congress and the administration are debating various ways to help Restaurant Owners survive this pandemic. When i talk to restaurateurs in my community, theyre pretty clear on what type of need they have, expansion and increased flexibility of the ppp, expansion of the Employee Retention and tax credit i know this committee is considering, tax credits to help the unexpected costs of personal protective equipment to safeguard the health of their employees and customers alike. Those are three things that can help those businesses and by association the town centers and communities that make it are trying to make it through the difficult times. There will be a time when this pandemic is over and life returns to normal, but for so many people that return to normal will involve being able to once again gather at a restaurant without fear or worry. The thing is if we dont act now to help our restaurants through this crisis, there may not be restaurants to go back to and thats not an exaggeration, thats reality on main street america right now. I implore you to put partisan differences aside and Work Together to help our restaurants. I thank you for your time today. Thank you for your testimony, mayor. Miss bernstein, you may proceed. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me today. Ladies and gentlemen, ive been in the hospitality for almost 40 years. I started as a server with tgi fridays and eventually traveled around the country opening up their new restaurants and i just fell in love with the Restaurant Business. I thought i was going to be a photographer, but i just loved being with people, i loved serving food, i loved feeling like i was having a party every day. I decided i was going to do everything i could to work towards having my own business, and in 1997 i opened my first restaurant and we started with 17 employees, staff members, family members, and it was such a whirlwind. I think about the adrenaline of opening a restaurant and it was my favorite part. It was so exciting. Today, 23 years later, my business is still there. I worked really hard to expand it with other operations including catering and right before the pandemic we had 240 employees. I shut down before the mandate because i was really concerned about our employees getting sick, our guests getting sick and really not understanding what was going on, so we just shut the doors, tried to think about what we were going to do and ended up laying off 170 of our team members. Really family members, you know, people that have worked really hard for us as a restaurant and our community and anyway, heartbreaking. It took a little while, so grateful for the ppp. Obviously there were some issues in the beginning of trying to use that money within eight weeks and was so grateful that some of those things could be changed so that it could extend it. We have since used our money. The money is gone. Weve been able to retain 75, 80 employees and were in a beautiful season. Its wine country summer. Outdoor season. Our town has given us some allowances to expand into the sidewalks and park plaza and were doing absolutely everything we can to stay afloat. We know that if we are mean and lean, we can maybe get through until spring, but i never would have thought that today we would still be in the midst of the pandemic. I know there is such great programs, you know, the tax retention credit, the restaurant act that the restaurant coalition, independent coalition is working on, there are some many great programs that are out there. We need help like yesterday. I you know, once winter happens and we cant serve outside, were going to have to lay off another 160 people. I dont know how my dream of what ive done for all these years is going to disintegrate. I miss our guests gathered around the table. I miss hearing our staff. I miss hearing the kitchen yell for runners to come get the food and so many other things, and most of all, im so grateful for all of you to take the time and to consider the Restaurant Business. I am one of so many Small Businesses and i know the pain that im feeling, i can imagine that everybody else is feeling the same pain. The other thing i want to note really quickly is that were a trickle down business, and so if were not doing business, then were not buying from our farmers and our wine makers, were not buying from the ranchers and in our catering where we lost over 50 weddings this catering season, you know, the photographers and the deejays and the bands and the florists and cake makers and all these people lost that business too. It comes down to celebration and memories and having the gap instead of creating these beautiful times, were in panic and fear and we just are scared of the invisible pandemic that is happening around us that we have absolutely no control in. So thank you. I really, really appreciate you putting the effort in and im grateful for you giving me an opportunity to speak. Sondra, thank you very much. Miss ha, youre recognized. Please proceed. Good morning, mr. Chairman and members of the committee and everyone thats attending. Just thank you so much for this opportunity to testify before you today. Ill tell you a little bit about my story. My name is christine ha. My parents were vietnamese refugees that came here on a u. S. Naval ship on april 29th, 1975. They escaped saigon one day before the imminent fall. They came to america to make a better life for themselves and i was born in Southern California, raised in texas, so growing up in texas, you know, i was straddling these two different cultures. We ate a lot of vietnamese food at home back then when things like ox tail and pork belly were cheap cuts of meat that were not yet trendedy. That is what my parents could afford and my mom did a great job of cooking these ingredients and making them into tasty meals that fed our family and took them a long way. Fast forward several years, i was in college. I actually never learned to cook from my mom. She passed away when i was 14. I miss the foods of my youth and these flavors of these vietnamese foods that my mom cooked so i taught myself how to cook in college. When i first cooked a meal that my roommates and friends enjoyed, it was totally worth it. All of the sweat in the kitchen and the smell of fish sauce and onions and things, but i was able to feed my friends. There was something about the joy of being able to create something and feed other people and welcome them to my table and my small little west Campus Apartment that made me feel like joy, the joy of cooking. I kept at it and just became an avid home cook. Coincidentally in my 20s around the same time that i was starting to excel at cooking i began to lose my vision due to an autoimmune disease that affects the optic nerves and the spinal cord. I had to leave my corporate job eventually and just focus on my health and recovery. It was at that time that i decided to do a Career Change and i went back to school to get a masters degree in creative writing at university of houston. So there i was in grad school at the same time i decided to audition for a show called master chef which is a show for home cooks for amateur home cooks, because thats what i was, and as a writer i just thought that i wanted to experience as much as i could in life and i thought i would get to meet Gordon Ramsey and come home and not wins the competition, but have a great story to write about. But lo and behold being the only blind contestent in this competition, was thought of as a disadvantage but i kind of if anything my parents had taught me being survivors of a war, leaving a cont behind, all that they knew behind to make a new life in america was perseverance and grit and so i just did my best in the competition and in 2012 i did win season three. Fast forward seven years after that, in the last year in july of 2019, i got to open my very first restaurant called the blind goat in houston. We are a 400 square foot station inside a food hall in downtown houston. Its my first foreray into the true Restaurant Industry. At the blind goat we serve, you know, not a traditional vietnamese menu but very much a tribute to my mothers cooking. A lot of the traditional flavors i grew up eating, but with the texas twist since i grew up here in texas. Theres a little barbecue, a little bit of texmex but a lot of vietnamese flavors. As soon as we opened the doors the blind goat was very busy, running out of food every day. People i guess were still very interested and curious to know what my cooking tasted like since i was declared a winner of the show several years before. So we were very fortunate to feed a lot of pe and brought a lot of joy to people, not only our staff, but guests and our community. On december 31st of 2019, the Houston Chronicle restaurant critic allison cook gave the blind goat three stars and i found out that we were named on the long list for the James Beard Foundation best new restaurant in america. Never in a million years did i think i myself, a blind home cook, would be able to run a business, start it from the ground up, and be, you know, named for such an honor. And then, of course, we all remember in mid march was when the country started shutting town and on march 16th my restaurant, the blind goat, immediately pivoted to takeout and delivery. We had to scale back hours for the safety of my staff, we closed our doors, you know, for dine in and all that and then we really bulked up on ppe. Eventually we put plexiglass up and, you know, i just want to say that my staff is just, you know i the ppp thank god has really helped us survive, but we need things like the restaurant act to really continue to just help them survive and help the business survive. So i just thank you and urge all of you to consider legislation to help restaurants like mine independent ones continue to survive this pandemic. Thank you. Thank you, miss ha. That was a very inspiring story. Thank you for sharing it with us. Mr. Sandoval, youre recognized. Please proceed. Hello, everyone. My name is Mario Sandoval. Im a food server on fremont street in downtown las vegas. Ive been a Culinary Union member for 39 years. Today im here to talk to you about how cuts to health care and unemployment have affected my life, how workers must be protected when they return to work and how job security and the right to return to our jobs when businesses reopen can give me and thousands of workers in nevada the hope we need to get through this pandemic. I was raised here in las vegas. I started working downtown las vegas when i was 16 years old. Ive been working at the same job i have now since ive been 21. I have seen the economy go through changes during 9 11, the 2008 recession, and personally walked the picket line without pay, but ive never been through an Economic Situation like this before. Right now, im receiving Unemployment Benefits because mywork place is still not open. The extra 600 payment on top of my regular unemployment payment helped me survive through most of the year. Now the extra 600 was not renewed and im in a 750 a month deficit on my bills every month. My daughter took on the extra burden to pay my bills because i didnt have the money, but its put her in a difficult place. Im worried about the economy crashing again. We cant get a job in this town right now and some of our workplaces have not opened. So what do we do . Not only do we need Unemployment Benefits extended we need regular stimulus checks to be sent to every person in this country to helps us get through this pandemic. We also need to make sure that all workers have the right to return to their jobs when businesses reopen or resume. Right now my coworkers and i are fighting for the right to return to work in Clarke County where fabulous las vegas is located. Were urging our county commissioners to protect workers like us of who lost our jobs to covid. It costs the companies nothing to bring us back to work. Companies should not waste time and money trying to hire and train new people when there are people like me with so much experience just waiting for our workplace to open. We should not be replaced for younger workers when we spent our lives working for our companies. We should not have to start our careers over. We are so close to retiring. Knowing i have a job to return to would give me hope and hope that i can take and hope can take me a long ways. We helped build our industry. The least the industry can do for us is save our jobs. All workers, union, nonunion, need the right to return to work and all workers need help and hope. All workers also need the highest safety standard when they return to work. My union fought for workers like me to be protected if we get called back to work by passing the first in the nation work safety regulation about covid19. I know that if my Company Calls me, they will have to follow strict laws that will have free covid testing, days off for quarantine if im exposed and my work place will be inspected often by the health district. I think workers across the nation should have that kind of protection. Last but definitely not least im worried about Health Insurance coverage. When i went on strike in the 90s it was because i needed Health Insurance for my children. After that strike ended i found out i had brain cancer and i needed that insurance for myself. Now ive been in remission 29 years but i have other Health Conditions that require me to take medicine every day. I need congress to make sure that cobra benefits are 100 covered especially the a crisis we are facing right now due to a deadly disease. Workers need congress to work on policies that will protect us. Please do the right thing and make sure working families in america can pay their bills, stay in their homes, and have health care during a deadly pandemic. Please, work on policies that guarantee workers the right to return to work when business resumes and policies that make them safer if they get called back. That would give working families like mine hope and we really need that hope right now. I want to say thank you for the opportunity to share my story. Thank you again. Thank you, mr. Sandoval. Now well hear from miss jayaraman. You may proceed. Thank you chairman thompson, Ranking Member smith and chairman neal for inviting me, to all the other witnesses for your moving testimony. Thank you all for your work on tax credits and stimulus checks to support this industry. My name is saru jayaraman, im a professor at uc berkeley and i have led a National Organization fighting to raise wages and working conditions in the Restaurant Industry for the last 20 years. We have 220,000 restaurant worker members, 850 Restaurant Owner members including tom who testified with you last week and several thousand consumer members across the country. We are definitely in crisis as an industry and it is hard breaking to hear employers losing their dreams, losing their businesses. Of course its sad for consumers to lose their favorite Neighborhood Restaurants but beyond all of that, it is life threatening for workers, 13. 6 million workers, who beyond losing their dreams and their work, they are losing their homes, they are losing their ability to feed their children, they are losing the ability to pay for heat and other utilities with winter coming. It is a very dire lifethreatening situation for workers who are literally facing homelessness right now. The Restaurant Industry prior to the pandemic was in crisis for workers. We were the nations second largest and Fastest Growing employer, but with the absolute lowest paying wages of any employer in the United States and that is due to the minimum wage for tipped workers which is a literal legacy of slavery. The trade law demanded the right to hire newly freed slaves not pay them anything and have them live on tips which was a mutation of the original concept of tipping always intended to be an extra or bonus on top of the wage. Slavery in the United States made the subminimum waged made tipping a replacement for a wage rather than replacement for a wage rather than a bonus on top of the wage and we ended with today, zero dollar wage at emancipation, to a 2. 13 wage in our industry for tipped workers today. A 2 increase over 150 years. Prior to the pandemic, that ridiculously low wage led to home insecurity, food insecurity, economic insecurity, the highest rates of Sexual Harassment of any industry in the United States because you had a largely female workforce having to tolerate inappropriate Customer Behavior to feed their families in tips and severe racial segregation and workers of color have long been tipped less than white workers and resulted in a 5 per hour wage gap between black women and white men as a result of the 2 wage that existed in our industry. It was wrong, it was outrageous, it was unjust before the pandemic. With the pandemic it became an issue of life or death. Because there are seven states that got rid of the system many decades including california, oregon, washington, nevada, montana, and nebraska, they are booming and had industries doing better than the 43 states, industry job growth rates, higher rates of tipping, but our calculations based on 220,000 workers who applied to us for relief, was that 60 of tipped workers were unable to access Unemployment Insurance, 60 , because they were told that their subminimum wage plus tips was too low to qualify for benefits in their states. They were also largely unable to access the federal 600 because in many cases state denials made it very difficult to then access federal funding coming through state systems. So many were left without income, thousands were actually destitute. You may have seen reports of workers living in parks. Theres a very dire situation. Now millions are being called back to work for a subminimum wage of 2 or 3 in most states when tips are down 50 to 75 an we are facing a Public Health crisis because the same workers who are being asked to enforce social distancing and mask rules as we switch to indoor dining, are being made to rely on tips from those very same customers in order to feed their families. So one of two things is going to happen. Either they are going to enforce the rules and not get tips to feed their families or more likely they are not going to enforce the rules because they need the tips to feed their families. There is a very severe Public Health crisis when the cdc has reported that last week that you are twice as likely to get the crisis from eating in a restaurant. If we likely to get to crisis eating in a rest minute. We need to make sure they have the pay that they need to enforce those social distancing rules not having to rely on tips. So we thank you so much for all the tax credits, the child care tax credits, so many more important programs. Consider actually extending the 45b fica tax credit to Service Charges. So Many Employers want to switch to full minimum wage with Service Charges but want those treated as tips in tax credits as opposed to something different. So theres so much you can do to support literally thousands of Restaurant Owners across this country that want to change this system, that want to move to full minimum wage to tip workers and millions depend on that transition. You are recognized. Please proceed. Are you there . Good morning, chairman thompson, members of the committee and to fellow witnesses for their time this morning. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman for mentioning our founding in 1905. Thats special to me. As you might imagine the stakes are high for us as well as my fellow restauranteurs across the country. Before i begin let me congratulate the newest member of the committee congressman cedric richmond. Hell be a fantastic addition, and all of us here in louisiana, his constituency are proud of his continued achievements. What were facing is similar to challenges facing restaurants in every type of every corner of the country. Limited capacities, limited demand and only half of our 160 employees are back to work. While this hearing is looking at the industry from a longer perspective we cannot ignore that what happens in the shortterm will help or hurt our ongoing efforts and could very well potentially determine our future. Restaurant owners are making Business Decisions for october based on the actions that you all take today i implore you please take action before leaving town for the elections. If Congress Adjourns without galvanizing an industry specific restaurant recovery fund, extending the paycheck Protection Program with a second round or providing other enhanced relief, more restaurants will close, more employees will lose their jobs and the economic crisis of the pandemic will deepen. I remind you theres no industry that has been hit harder first to close, last to reopen, an industry that relies on social interaction during a time of social distancing. One in six restaurants are closed. 40 of those still open are likely to close within the next six months without additional federal aid. And the industry is on track to lose 240 billion in revenue this year. In my state alone the industry has lost more than 31,000 jobs. Half of the prepandemic work force. Ppp and other relief was designed for 8 weeks. Six months in were still months away from recovery. Restaurants have suffered more losses in dollars and jobs than any other restaurant. What restaurants and employees need is targeted help from the nations second largest private sector employer. Our blueprint for economic revival outlines tools that enjoy bipartisan support. Congress should pass the Senate Version of the restaurants act which takes a balanced approach to support independent and locally owned franchised restaurants. In addition to the ppp enhancements i just mentioned congress should ensure that business expenses paid from it are tax deductible. We ask Congress Enact a refundable tax credit to sustain social distancing facilities, equipment and safety amidst a crippling operating climate. And congress should take steps to enhance the amount, duration and number of businesses that can use the Employee Retention tax credit. Helping restaurants will benefit every community in this country. Restaurants and our employees have a personal connection to customers as you know. In other towns it is a small change. In some towns its a beloved local restaurant, but every one of you and every american has a place that is their favorite regardless of the name on the door. Restaurants are Community Cornerstones that provide a ladder of opportunity for employees. Restaurants have more diversity in our ranks and more women and diverse managers and owners than any other sector in the economy. The hospitality we share is a direct result of the world of faces who invite all americans to their table. Your help can support us in this crisis as we continue our efforts for recovery. Thank you. Thank you very much. Without objections each member will be recognized for 5 minutes to question our witnesses. We will not observe the gibbons rule in this remote setting and will instead go in order of seniority switching between majority and minority members. Members are reminded to unmute yourselves when youre recognized for your 5 minutes, and ill begin by recognizing myself. Mayor, like countless other state and local officials across our country youve had to thread the needle of protecting the health of your constituents while providing the opportunity to protect their economic livelihoods. When 85 of independent restaurants are in danger of closing and restaurant workers make up 1 in 4 coronavirus related job losses, how do you anticipate the pandemic affect the economy of orlando in both the short run and long run without additional relief from our federal government . Were substantially impacted, not necessarily the revenues to the city of orlando but the revenues that are in the pockets of our citizens. Weve had to balance the needs of restaurants with health. Right now its a state determined capacity issue. Theyre limited to 50 capacity. So as a city what we have done is thought of every unique way that we could help restaurants. Weve allowed them to use their private parking lots or public spaces that are adjacent to their restaurants to expand their capacity. Weve done 15minute Parking Spaces. Weve done parklets where weve turned Parking Spaces to Outdoor Dining. But if you look at our downtown right now i would say 20 of the Office Towers are occupied, which means theres no lunchtime crowd for restaurants in our downtown. So it really bleeds into every aspect of our community. So do you need federal help . Absolutely. What happens if that doesnt come . Whats that . What happens if the federal help does not come . More and more of these restaurants and Small Businesses will close. More than just the Restaurant Community . Absolutely. And what happens as a local leader, a local elected if your coffers dry up . What do you do you do to balance the books . Well, in florida local governments are largely funded by property taxes. So the property tax rates were set before the pandemic hit, so were going to be okay for this current year. But the next few years of Property Values decline which in an extended longturn downturn of the economy is likely to occur, we would be in a different state than we are right now. I understand that, but how will you react . What can a City Government do . You cant raise taxes on people while youre in a pa pandemic situation, so wed have to cut services. So you lay people off and cut services, so its a double hit to your constituents. Not only do they lose the economics in their community, but they turn around and have more people unemployed and have less services. Yeah, thats exactly right. Thank you. Ms. Bernstein, Restaurant Owners invest significant time and resources, and weve heard compeing stories about this today in opening and maintaining your establishments having factored in the number of customers that you need to serve to break even and the capacity in order to do that. Can you help educate the committee on what operating at reduced capacity means to a Restaurant Owner such as yourself and how youve adjusted operations in the interest of Public Health. Yes. So year to date we personally we have seen 100,000 less guests than last year at this time. We have 9 tables in a space that we used to have 25 tables. On a saturday there would be ten servers, two, three, hosts, two bussers, full kitchen. Now we have two servers on that same shift. So we are definitely down working at about 30 capacity to what we were. Our catering business is at about 5 . The Catering Company was 35 of our entire business. Its not our story alone. We didnt feel safe when we were allowed to open the inside because were in a very old funky building. And didnt think we could keep the staff safe. So we are, you know, just trying whatever. Were doing collaborations, you know, with some other people, but there is the ppp helped a lot. It helped with our represent. Our rent is very expensive in the area that we are. Trying to renegotiate our rent. All the costs seem to be going up. Food costs. We havent raised our prices because we know our community is suffering as well. And i think that they feel extra pressure to come to our restaurants to help try and save them to keep us in business. And so, you know, one of the things i think that is going to go for us is going to be our ability to help our community. You know, we always with the wildfires we just jumped in and help feed our First Responders and whoever. When the pandemic came again what we do is we feed, we nourish. We want to help. And we did about 20,000 meals in a short period so that we could keep people working. I fear our community is going to lose some of the efforts that we give, and i know we cant make it on this capacity. Its just big expenses to a small occupancy. And so i dont know, honestly. I dont know. And unlike orlando the town of sonoma doesnt have the benefit of local property taxes to fall back on. So if local and State Government doesnt get help from the federal government and the city has to lay people off or cut services, is it your take that that will hurt you even more . Oh, without a question on so many levels, whether its the staff being able to pay their bills, whether its us being able to pay our bills or even stay open. And definitely the community that depends on wages not being able to put more money into our community. Thank you very much. Due to help you keep staff on until you can resume normal operations. I think any sort of legislation that can help me as an employer to continue having my staff onboard, you know, my main concern and my biggest priority is to keep the business open, so the finances have to make sense. So anything like tax credits or any additional Financial Relief would be most helpful. My second highest priority is, of course, to be able to pay my staff a fair wage. So we you know, because of the generosity of the ppp weve been able to give them temporary pay and supplement some of their tips they were no longer getting because we had to close down. So, you know, i feel like its been tough to make ends meet as a business operator. This is my first restaurant, so im learning everything. You know, just having to start a place from the ground up and now dealing with covid i feel like ive experienced all sorts of things in the Restaurant Industry, so i am trying to figure it out. But anything i do, i do follow what legislation gets passed. And i think things like the tax credits and things would greatly help us just so we can keep a minimal cash flow and cash runway to just operate the business. Because the Restaurant Industry, we already operate on very thin margins and now were operating on steep losses on a weekly basis. Mr. Sandoval, thank you for sharing your story, very compelling and heart breaking. Can you just tell us a little bit about what it would mean to your day to day life if we were able to enact some of our House Democratic priorities in the law like the 1,200 impact payments or the employer retention tax credit . Well, i know the stimulus would help me a lot just to continue living on a daytoday basis because i make just over 1,000 a month on unemployment, thats barely enough to get by. And im barely doing that. I wish i could answer that really well for you, but its really a difficult situation for me here because food and beverage has been my life here. Its a hospitality town, and i would go out and get another job but its all hospitality here, and its difficult. I dont know what else to say to that. I just dont. Thank you very much. Professor, you had talked about the compensation for restaurant workers, and can you just talk a little bit about how that may be exacerbating the problem that is it the nature of how we pay restaurant workers adversely affect them more than say the cashier in the store next door . Thank you so much for asking that. As i mentioned we were the nations lowest paid work force prior to the pandemic, and, you know, a good 10 million workers were living with poverty wages prior to the pandemic facing the highest rates of economic instability of any industry in the United States. Every year the u. S. Department of labor would release a list of the 10 lowest paying jobs, and every year including this year wed be 6 or 7 of the lowest paying jobs in america. Thats the Restaurant Industry. Its not reflective of the incredible employers who are on this call. Its not reflective of the 850 amazing employees of my association that we believe taking the high road to profitability, believe that paying your workers actually results in better Employee Retention, less turn over, increased productivity. We have documented so many amazing benefits to paying your workers livable wages and allowing them to move up ladders and allowing them to have access to benefits. But they didnt. For a vast majority of workers they didnt. Prior to this crisis they had in this country a 2 wage. Nearly 40 states have wages for these workers of less than 5 an hour from their employer. And that, 2, 3, 4 wage in most states resulted in massive amounts of economic insecurity. You mentioned at the start of this hearing that its a disproportionately young industry, and that is true. About 40 of restaurant workers are under the age of 24. But 6 feeding kids. And with the pandemic that subminimal wage resulted in not just unemployment like the cashier next door as you mentioned but the inability to access Unemployment Insurance because in most states they were told your subminimum wage of 2 or 3 plus tips is too low to meet the minimum threshold to qualify. In many cases tips went unreported not just by the workers but employers. We had a single mother tell us i have reported my tips religiously to the irs every year but because my employer didnt report my tips my wages was too low, and thain apply for the 600 and i was told i was eligible, so thank you to congress for making sure workers like sarah may in michigan could access federal but couldnt access state. But because of the state systems, she had a very hard time accessing those 600. When she finally did, it ended. And so we need that to be renewed. The real issue i want to emphasize is that these workers are now being asked to go back to work and being asked to tell customers wear your masks, sit 6 feet apart, and those are the same customers who theyre supposed to get tips from to feed their families. And thats why were encouraging lets incentivize employers who are doing the right thing and moving away from that system. Lets provide tax credits. Lets look at changing that Service Charge to be treated like tips then tax code so that more and more employers can move to full minimum wage. Thank you very much. Now i recognize mr. Rice for 5 minutes. So this issue touches me very, very deeply and i find this hearing extremely frustrating if not infuriating. Often most of the time i learn when i go to these hearings. I learn facts that i didnt know, but not today. I mean were hearing from all these witnesses about the struggles of the Restaurant Business, and we all knew that very well. Back when this pandemic first hit and before the cares act was even in place i wrote letters to leadership saying if youre going to allocate 90 billion to airlines you need to allocate hundreds of billions of dollar tuesday the Hospitality Industry because they will be the most affected industry in this pandemic, and that is exactly proved to be true. Mr. Bernstein, you said we need help yesterday, well weve been offering help. On wednesday republicans offered an extension of the ppp program that would have helped all you guys, and every democrat voted against it. It was in a motion that we made on wednesday to attach to a bill. Every democrat voted against it, every republican voted for it. The truth is, guys, this is what the bottom line is. You were talking about make workers safe. Ive offered tax credits of 50 of the cost to make your workplace safe and buy ppe and all those things. They were included in the Senate Package that democrats brought to the floor. The government paid a 50 credit on people who went out on monday, tuesday and wednesday. Im doing everything i can think of to try to help the Restaurant Industry. But to truth is, guys, today that your help is being held up. And its being held up by leadership. Why is it being held up . Because they want two things in this relief package and theyre not going to let us help you unless they get those things. And one of them is a bail out for state and local governments, mostly blue state local governments. Theyve got to have that, cost almost a trillion dollars. And the second is they see you guys as a leverage point so they can reinstate the deductibility of state and local taxes, things that will help 90 of that money goes to the top 10 in the income bracket. Over 50 goes to people in the top 1 . Those two issues are whats holding this negotiation up. We could have already resolved this, passed the Senate Package and delivered the help to you yesterday. As you said, mr. Bernstein, the line in the sand for them is its going to cost almost 2 trillion to reinstate the local state tax reduction and help millionaires and billionaires and bail out these state and local governments. You guys are being used as a Pressure Point. Thats the purpose of this hearing today. You guys are being used as a Pressure Point to try and force a resolution of those two issues. And i think its a shame. I think its a disaster. I think we need to have delivered your help long ago. Theres nobody republican or democrat on this panel who doesnt recognize or understand you need this help, and we all want to deliver it to you. The question is what ransome are we going to have to pay to get that to you, and its this state and local tax bail out and this ability to write off state and local taxes. So, folks, im with you. Im putting up every bill i know to try to help you. Weve offered bill after bill as republicans on the floor that have been uniformly rejected. What house leadership is saying, what the leadership on the other side is saying is we wont let you deliver that help unless you give us those bail outs. So i am incredibly frustrated by this. It hurts my district perhaps more than any other district. This help youre right should have been delivered yesterday. But, guys, lets stop the rouse and lets move ahead with this help and stop trying to ransome these people to help millionaires and billionaires. Gentlemens time has expired. Youre recognized for 5 minutes. I appreciate your holding this hearing. We know that help was on the way for this industry and many others four months ago may 15th when the house passed legislation to address this pandemic. And tragically the Senate Following the example of President Trump in declaring the virus would just go away like a miracle here in the middle of the summer months did nothing. They did nothing for two months. They sat on their hands. They failed to respond. They offered no alternatives. They refuse to negotiate in any way, and more or less that same spirit has prevailed in the two months that have transpired since the first senate bill finally came out. I as mr. Rice knows happen to share his view about the provision on state and local taxes for a full repeal, but i think that has very little to do with where we are today. On the contrary our position today has been to try to provide some relief and to negotiate in good faith much of the state and local assistance of which he complains is very important. And i found that in the communities that i represent and i think this is true across the country, that providing assistance to local governments often allows them to reach out and fill in gaps that our federal legislation has not addressed and to come up with creative ways to support restaurants in my community, the Music Industry which is so important since we modestly claim to be the live music capitol of the world in austin to find create chb waive ways t those local workers and businesses to survive. Obviously in the communities i represent restaurants just play a truly vital role in providing a community seerpirit, in provig employment and most importantly in providing good food. I have seen estimates in the state of texas that were going to lose half of our restaurants if we dont some relief within the next 6 months. And ive seen that already begun to happen in my community. In austin shutdown permanently. Magnolia losing one of its major locations. In san antonio angels, great texmex food on the east side anticipates they will never reopen, and the same is true of a number of other establishments. I think it is vital that we get assistance. I have seen the efforts of local restaurants like joes bakery, like the asian market that is headed by eric to try to survive with take out. They have struggled because they dont always have the connections that permitted easy access to ppp, which may have been a good concept. But initially in the first round seem to have done a lot more to help the folks that were wellconnected rather than those that were the most in need. He finally got assistance in the second round, but with business down 50 , with the cost of take out higher than instore service, its a real challenge. And it is, of course, the restaurant workers that we have to be equally concerned about. Ive been troubled in the past that so often when there was a measure before the congress whether it was sick leave for irk workers or health care for workers or child care for workers or raising the minimum wage, that the National Restaurant association was one of the first groups to oppose the provision. Im pleased that last year the house adopted the raise the wage act which would raise the subminimum wage for tip workers over time to the level of the general minimum wage. And i think the watch word as we go forward is weve got to do this together. We need to protect our restaurants from closing but we also need to address the specific needs of the workers within those restaurants and see that they are treated fairly, that assistance is conditional. I particularly appreciate the efforts our senator has made with his restaurants act. And its so disappointing that despite all the talk about supporting the Restaurant Industry from republican colleagues that theres nothing in the new skinny mcconnell bill that specifically addresses the needs of the Restaurant Industry. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And as we all boast about our communities, when you have scots dale as part of your district i think one of the true food capitals of the country particularly in the winter months, im looking forward to a restaurant competition. I actually have a couple of questions, and also would like to get some input because thats what a hearing should truly be about. With an extension of the ppp, maybe another round of that, would that provide a back stop . I have a piece of legislation with some of my colleagues even here on the committee that would provide a tax credit for testing as well as ppp or personal protective equipment, and do the tax credit write off on payroll so it would be a quick turn around on having the capitol pay for those things. But one question i really want to get my head around after the pandemic, lets say Congress Steps up, we do our job and do things to help restaurants and other Small Businesses make it through this, whats the future look like . As the migration to meals going out the door, is that the future . Is this going to change the employment curve on restaurants . For many of us i started as a dishwasher as one of my first jobs. Thats one of the ways i paid my way through school. So can you share with us whats the future, and are we doing the right thing in how we will address providing together a back stop . Thank you. That is a great question. I see the future as very bright for restaurants including fullservice. The reality is that restaurants are an integral part of our society. Theyre the cornerstone of communities, and not just because theyre literally on every corner but because people join together to share experiences and to be a part of everyones lives. Were already seeing it albeit in limited demand right now because we have limited capacities challenging us and we have limited demand because there are those who are calling us and literally telling us they want to come back, but they continue to hear the fear thats out there, so i think that the future for restaurants is bright. Well, part of my question is also will the way food is delivered change . And maybe its just unknowable at this point. Thank you for being here. I actually remembered season 3 coming from a family of foodies, thats actually one of our hobbies watching that. For your business right now for your blind goat restaurant, how much is going out the door in shall we say pickup and delivery . And how is that helping in sustaining you . Im trying to get my head around whats the business look like, what is the bleed or profitability look like in your pickup and delivery . Sure. Thank you for that question, sir. Before the pandemic our revenue we were starting to see a climb over 80,000 a month, and thats great for a small stall like mine. We had to pivot immediately to pickup and delivery. In the month of may our revenue was 7,600 to about its 90 drop. The delivery has somewhat helped sustain us, but i dont think it can be for the longterm necessarily unless we are able to eventually open back up once the pandemic is more under control. Particularly its because a lot of the delivery apps do take 30 . At the end of the day thats very much digging into Profit Margins. So were doing it now because its helping to just keep the business alive, but i think in the longterm its not necessarily completely sustainable. We are slowly in texas seeing foots traffic more. Governor abbott just allowed us to increase capacity to 75 . Although theres not necessarily that much traffic because people are still quite frankly staying at home and selfquarantining. But there is a little bit more traffic, and that is i think what we need in the long run is that social aspect. And its kind of a challenge to be in this strange atmosphere. I believe many of us are comfortable with the restaurant act designed in the senate. Im hoping we as a committee can step up to get this to move forward. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you for holding this hearing, and i would like to associate myself with the remarks of mr. And our colleague earl bloomenhaur who has certainly led on this issue. I want our colleagues on the other side to know we share your frustration. Imagine being in a body in the house of representatives and having sent over 500 bills, 500 that the senate has never acted on. More than 70 of them bipartisanly adopted. You talk about frustration. That is thoroughly frustrating. And let us hope that we can change that in the future. But i do think these hearings should be about asking questions as well is state and local Property Tax Relief helpful to you, or is this something you think is extraneous and shouldnt be included as part of this covid pandemic that has impacted everybody across the board not just in this country but around the globe . This is going to have a lasting effect on the rerevenues for local governments, the decrease in revenues and added expenditures related to testing and all things covid. Were not in adbad a position as a lot of other local governments and State Governments heavily relier reliant on sales tax. We expect that well see more danger in coming years if commercial Property Values decrease. We think our downtown as i mentioned before is about 20 occupancy right now. So we know rental rates are going to go down. So any type of Relief Congress can give local governments and State Governments would be helpful. This crisis is having a disproportionate effect on people of color and women specifically. How is protecting the paychecks of restaurant workers an effective way to deliver relief to these populations . Well, the industry is disproportionately women and people of color, you know, of the 13. 6 million workers in america majority are women. And thats even higher among tipped workers. 70 of them are women. They are disproportionately of color. Close to 45 of workers are of color. But i think its important to note that as much as we celebrate the diversity of this industry hopefully in this moment when theres a National Call for racial ecat we we can understand that diversity is different than equity and workers of color are in the industry but it doesnt mean they have the highest paid positions in the industry. They are segregated into lower paying restaurants, casual and fast food restaurants. Theyre segregated into lower paid positions. They work as dish washers and cooks rather than servers and bartenders in fine dining restaurants. And the differential is enormous. Its at least a 5 per hour wage gap between black men and women in this industry as a result of segregation, as a result of historical legacies of slavery, and as a result of customer biases in tipping. And as a result any efforts, any support for restaurant workers, ppp has a disproportionately impact on workers of color because they have less savings. They have less ability to turn to family and friends for support. They are more likely to be home insecure, food insecure and much more likely to have family members impacted by the pandemic. Chairman thompson, i wanted to know if it would be okay to enter into the record the testimony of kemoni hill. Those two testimonies. Without objection we can do that, yes. Thank you. I just wanted to share to answer your question if i could because we have limited time i just want to make sure we have an opportunity to ask mr. Sandoval a question. I do thank you and well take whatever further answer and submit it with writing. During your testimony you mentioned how the 600 the gentlemens time has expired. Youre recognized for 5 minutes. Can you hear me now . Yes, we can. Thank you mr. Chairman, and thank you to our Witnesses Today for sharing the impact the pandemic is having on this sector and communities across our country. I want to quickly share what restaurants in my community, Southern California have told me. So many of these Small Businesses want to do right by their employees and customers, and sandra han, shared with me the lack of communication and coordination from the federal government is making things literally impossible. She is continually trying to piece together safety and Financial Guidance while fighting to keep her doors open, and there just arent enough hours in the day for her to do all of those things. Cdc guidance has been slow or just plain confusing. A patchwork of local recommendations tries to fill in the gaps. Masks has become a political issue adding another burden on her employees trying to enforce basic protocols to keep themselves and the patrons safe. Then there are the costs, the obvious costs of ppe, Sanitation Equipment and training so employees know how to follow the safety procedures, plus mounting new cost to outfit dining spaces, keep bugs away or beautify parking or street to entice customers to come. And i didnt get into the added impact of wildfires that have been mentioned today. These costs add up quickly especially for Small Businesses who ate through their ppp loans simply making sure their staff could keep food on their own tables. Your comments about taking a walk through your community to hear stories of people who put everything into their business really hit home for me because i do these Small Business walks throughout my district as well, and restaurants are really the heart of a vibrant community, and they often lead to a revitalization of a distressed area. I appreciate you talk about the tax provisions needed to help these businesses stay afloat and keep employing our friends and neighbors. Im hoping you could comment further on the next crisis you are likely facing which is budget shortfall for your city. My own cities have painted a grim picture of revenue shortfalls going to affect schools, Public Safety and countless community programs. Im curious to know what does that look like for you . So were in a were a 300,000 person city in a 1. 4 million county. The county is more reliant on sales tax through our First Development tax which last year was about 300 million and is probably at 5 of that in collection. So that has been a very substantial impact, but thats more on the county government than it is the City Government. Were more reliant on property taxes and those rates were set prior to the pandemic, so were probably going to be okay this year. Its next year were deeply concerned about because we think the value of commercial property is going to be impacted substantially because people are not coming to the office, restaurants are closing, all those types of establishments. So we think next year is the year were going to be in some serious revenue shortfalls. If you were in a jurisdiction that relied on thosesies tax revenues for funding of city services, and those have been decimated because of the stay at home orders because this pandemic has been allowed to ra rage on, what would that do to impact restaurants in terms of lack of state and local Government Fund . It would be like it would be i think the same for restaurants in any other Small Business. If youre a city that is reliant on sales tax youre going to have to cut services. Whether thats garbage, whether thats police and fire youre going to have to cut services because in a dire economic town like this theres no way you can raise taxes on your citizens, so theres no other choice. Thank you. Without funding from state and local governments like what was included in the heroes act local budgets across the country are going to be gutted at a time when people need those local supports more than ever. Mr. Sandoval, i want to thank you for sharing your story, what youve been through and fought for not just for yourself but your fellow workers is inspiring. Can you talk more about how your unions efforts to ensure a return to work ordinance is going. Were working on that still, but our return to work ordinance is going to be for union and nonunion workers. Its going good. I think its coming up on the calendar in october with the county commission. So im hoping that it goes through, because as of now its been six months since ive been back at work and my recall rights are expired. So im at the mercy of the company. Thank you, mr. Sandoval. The gentle ladys time has expired. Thank you, mr. Chairman for this hearing today. And let me just acknowledge and thank all the witnesses for your valuable testimony today on this important topic related to restaurants and what we need to be doing. You know, looking back to the spring when we passed the ppp program as part of the stimulus r relief, its probably the best thing that we did in terms of helping the economy. It was really a lifeline in my district to Small Businesses whether those are restaurants or bars or manufacturers. And we did it in a bipartisan way. And i think the frustrating part and everybody on this call has expressed it, why we cant do that again, why we cant have some type of revised ppp business plan. And i know many of my colleagues share the same thing, but i look at the Hospitality Industry, the travel industry, lodging industry, gyms and work out facilities, banquet facilities, music venues and of course restaurants has everyone has articulated today. But these are all entities that will not come back fully until we get a cure or vaccine or treatment. So the head scratcher is why we cant come together to have a revised ppptype program that helps your industry and all these other industry and do that in a type of loan program that extends out the next 6 to 9 months. And i look at my state of illinois and see that many of these restaurants and other entities are not going to make it next 6 to 9 months, through the winter and through the rough time that is ahead. And so why we cant come together, again, with something we already did in the spring and set a formula on how this can work. But i know thats what the hearing today is about, but we ought to be able to put politics aside and do this for the betterment of the Restaurant Industry and the country on this. And as weve seen with the number of pieces of legislation that have been kbraus r introduced we ought to scale it down and look at whats important. The Restaurant Industry and Small Businesses and these disproportionately affected businesses or targeted businesses, however you want to look at it, thats what we ought to be focused on. And unfortunately when you look at how many other things get added to these bills, but i for one believe we ought to prioritize what i just mentioned. Is and if we put that on the floor it would passoverwell mngly. Melven, i just want to ask you weve heard a lot about the safety and Public Health of workers in the Restaurant Industry and obviously different states have had different policies. The state of illinois had been very frustrated with our governor. The area i represent in illinois is a rural area, medium sized cities, but the governors had a one size fits all for the entire state. And obviously the concern for health and safety is first and foremost. Can you talk a bit about the different states and the restrictive policies that have been put in place and how thats affected the Restaurant Industry, and any suggestions you would have on that. Yes, thank you, congressman. First and foremost i appreciate your thoughts on ppp. Another round would be really a lifeline to many business. Specific to your question on the policies of different states, its been extremely difficult to navigate. Here in new orleans the mayor has taken a different tact than the governor. Both have aludapproaches, but theyre different. And so it has created a lot of confusion and difficulty for operators. If you think about it in the context of, you know, every business theres this certainty they have for operations is what they need. When theres uncertainty because you dont know what the policy is going to be or what the restriction is going to be and were not getting in those advance, then its difficult to build towards it. I think everyone has embraced the ppe, and everyone is taking it extremely seriously as operators. Enhanced protocols, and weve gotten that. I think theres communication on it and a general theme on how to attack that. But capacities and larger gatherings when it comes to receptions for people weddings and things of that nature, which are huge. The gentlemens time has expired. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And i want to thank all of our witnesses for joining us for this very important hearing. The pandemic has made this an incredibly difficult time for everyone in our communities and for restaurants in particular. And i know that many of the restaurants that ive heard from in my region are small, family owned businesses, some who have been forced to shutter, shutter everything theyve worked so hard to achieve, and Restaurant Owners who have been in business over 30 years and fought their way through several financial crises say they dont know how theyre going to make it through this recession. And House Democrats put Additional Resources in the tax act. But thats still legislation unfortunately the senate hasnt looked at. Ms. Bernstein, i want to thank you for taking time to be with us here today. Im also from the west coast, and i know that in addition to dealing with the pandemic the west coast was also hit hard with wildfires and poor air quality. And i know the air quality shutdown Outdoor Dining recently. I wondered if you could talk a bit about how the expanded employer retention tax credit would be paired with a 50 credit for operational cost could position you for your workers as you prepared for the winter and colder winter places in your region. So your thoughts on what we can do to help you there and the employer retention tax credit expansion. Yeah, thank you. I guess a question i would have on the tax retention is that if im not able to employ anyone because i dont have anyplace to operate, how do i get that credit . A i mean, i dont think i understand that part, but we just need help from wherever. I dont know were going to be able to open this winter. So im just going to be sitting on paying a small amount of salary people probably that i am going to need. And paying rent and fix costs that are there. But, you know, to go business, take out is not going to cover you know, i could use 10 people versus 80 people. So im not quite sure, honestly, how that would help, but i know anything would help. One key of the employer retention tax credit is that it is a tax credit which would help cover payroll so that you were able to put your resources in other areas and keep people connected to their jobs and benefits. I also wanted to ask you what are some of the challenges that you faced with the paycheck Protection Program and any concerns you have about forgivability of the loan . We are in the forgivability state right now, and had it not changed, i mean i wish some of the restrictions changed a month or 6 weeks prior than they did because we had spent so much of that money trying to make sure we had 100 full time people, you know, our head count where it was. So we spent time when we werent open because we couldnt afford to be paying huge amounts of money back if we werent forgiven. Were kind of back at the same exact place that we were prior to the original ppp. Were just looking at how were going to get through the next months, how we can keep people on. Im especially concerned without the extra 600 for team members if we cant put them in to work, and they cant get extra benefits, i worry. I worry, you know, every day. I havent taken a salary since march, and thats just to keep money into my business to do whatever i can to the staff that i have there. I dont know if that answers that. No, thank you so much for your feedback. I appreciate it, and i yield back where, mr. Chairman. I thank the gentlelady. Ms. Moor, youre recognized for 5 minutes. Thank you so very much, mr. Chairman. Thank you for this subCommittee Hearing on this very important issue. And i just want to join everyone in really mourning the loss of so many of our very important Small Businesses throughout the United States and recognizing the burden this has brought on them. I was moved by the testimony from all our witnesses about the very small margins that restaurants work on even in the best of circumstances. And the amount of time and this venture. So given that, i just want to just want to address a problem that has opened up. When he talked about talking about the sustainability of the restaurants and the industry. I think that we dont have we cant just be concerned about the extension of tax credits, ppp, the employment retention tax credit. We have to be concerned about the health of our workers as well. I was very moved by mr mr. Sandovals total testimony where he talked about the cost of paying for cobra and health care. And so i just want to correct i just want to give maybe mrmr. Mr. Rodriguez an opportunity to talk, because i looked at your blueprint and its very important, but wouldnt you agree its important to take that particular vision for saving restaurants with providing more Unemployment Insurance for the people who cant come back, you know, people have 50 capacity, then there are 50 of workers who are still at home, and so its not off topic. I guess i want just sort of an affirmation and agreement from you, sir, that of course, thats a part of saving the industry. Thank you, congressman. I would say that is certainly true. The Unemployment Benefits is an important factor, and i think that we would implore you to find a balanced solution. The challenge in front of us is that the demand is not totally there. So we certainly want help for our employees. Thank you. Thank you, sir. That was fully responsive. And i guess i just want to say before my time expires that i have a bill that i welcome all of my members look at. Its not outside of the jurisdiction of the entire committee, and thats a bill to support families during crises like this. I mean, we have seen katrina, we have seen this pandemic. Theres no indication of wildfires, theres no suggestion that were going to not have these emergencies that disrupt employability. So Restaurant Industry is the most vulnerable, as you all have indicated, so i guess i want to ask the young woman about the minimum wage. I guess my question for you, and my last few seconds, is, you know, to the extent that we dont want to necessarily transfer all of the liability for having an economically Sustainable Business in the Restaurant Industry, would you agree things like raising the minimum wage, providing a more robust earned income tax credit, might be ways to help this industry outside of, and if we raise the minimum wage, we can definitely raise peoples living standards, and i guess i just want to give you my last few seconds to comment on that. Thank you, congresswoman moore. Its not just me who agrees with that. Its not just hundreds of thousands of workers who are calling for that. There are literally at this point hundreds if not thousands of employers who have actually come together with us to say this is the time. This is the time when were rethinking every aspect of our business to restructure compensation in our industry, even the National Restaurant associations own trade magazine, nations restaurant news headline last friday was pandemic is forcing the industry to rethink tip credit and wages. Everybody is rethinking the fact we have a 2 wage that clearly didnt work during the pandemic. We have got to build back better. We wasnt cant go back to the before the pandemic. Mr. Ericson, youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. For the hearing. Thank you to our witnesses. Real quick on the last point, it just seems like theres an endless list of well intended policies from my democratic colleague colleagues about the impact of losing their identities and those folks, we get it. When the government mandates closures, when it mandates you have to pay, when it mandates you to have buy this health care product, they put a noose on their neck and ask why dont you guys help with jobs and give people, you know, create this land of opportunity. It doesnt make any sense to me. But i am grateful that were having this hearing, mr. Chairman, because nobody can comment in this pandemic more than our Small Businesses and restaurants. I married into a family, and im a lucky texan, and my inlaws have taken me there, and its unbelievable. And by the way, the dallas chain, oysters, all of these things im learning as a west texan, we dont eat much fresh seafood this far west, but you guys represent what it means to our citizens and to our family. A respite and a retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and its a place to connect and have community. And where we have made our best memories. So restaurants are more than just food and good dining and service. Its a big part of our psyche as americans for our greatest memories and we need yall to come back. One thing we have to do, in my opinion, is the right thing to delegate and defer the Health Protocols to the state and local government. Weve got to stop with these mandates that are keeping folks from making a living. And the other issue of Unemployment Insurance. We want to help everybody. We want to provide assistance, and whether thats cash assistance or Employee Retention credits or work opportunity credits, but what we dont want to do is have well intended policies that actually work and when were paying people in my district, we had 75 of folks on unemployment were being paid more to be on unemployment than to be at the job that they had prior to covid, so my restaurateurs and Small Businesses are saying please, find a better way to help individuals and their families than this structure centered on 600 on Unemployment Insurance. Now, tell me about that from your perspective, again, how do we help folks without hurting your chances and those you represent in the Restaurant Industry of coming back . That 40 or some 200,000 restaurants have been closed on account of government making it difficult. Can you comment on that for me, please . Thank you, congress. That was my point a moment ago. We definitely need to help employees but we need to find a balanced way. When were trying to get employees to come back to work, were in a difficult spot when theyre incentivized not to be there. So finding the right balance, i emplore yall to do that. In reference to the restaurant closures, we had over 100,000 closed. And weve got 40 of operators on a very large survey that tell us, if we dont do something now before this election, 40 say that they cannot survive the next six months without some additional form of federal aid. You all acted so quickly when it came to ppp, very appreciative of that. We need action again because without it, without that lifeline, you know, arent going to be able to reopen. We would love a long Term Solution of an industry specific restaurant recovery fund. The National Restaurant association was the first to promote that way back in march. So were in favor the gentlemans time has expired. Thank you. Mr. Boyle, youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I assume you can hear me okay. Yes. Okay, great. Thank you. And thank you for holding this hearing on such an important issue. I want to use my five minutes just to focus on my district and my constituents here in the city of philadelphia. In the last few decades as many of you know, philadelphia has become known for its robust and vibrant food scene. The food scene in fact not only attracts tourists but even new residents to the city. So in the case of philadelphia, its not just about helping Business Owners and employees. Its about helping the entire community. There were 6,500 food related businesses that operate in philadelphia prepandemic. Representing 18 of the citys businesses. More than 86 of the businesses are small operations employing fewer than 20 people. In 2016, the food economy locally contributed 66 million in wage tax revenue to the city. Thats 4 of the citys entire revenue. So in addition to the citys lost revenue, what has also been lost is the amount of money that has to be spent on the Public Health response. So its really a drop in revenue combined with, of course, the increase in expenses. Let me share a few of the stories from Restaurant Owners, whats happening in the city, because theyre really the most eloquent voices on this topic and know more about, more than anyone. Tyler aiken, he has several restaurants in the city. Due to the pandemic, he was permanently forced to permanently close one restaurant just yesterday and says that without any assistance from the government, he will have to close all of his restaurants in philadelphia. Caron horn, someone i know personally, here were his words. Quote, prior to covid, i was slated to open a new brunch Coffee Concept in february in philadelphia called the guardhouse. Covid caused us to stop our buildout due to Construction Labor regulations regulating the shutdown. Were now pushed to late october with construction gearing back up. Once we open up, we hope to navigate our approach in terms of indoor dining. We may have to get creative with delivery only and just our hours to optimize revenue. We also have had to lose new hires who have yet to start working but were counting on us to open. The Restaurant Owners from hip city veg, they say they strongly support the restaurants act, additional rounds of ppp, and expanding and improving the eidl. They say these issues are, quote, life and death for most restaurants, especially as they head into the colder winter months and the loss of outdoor seating. Chairman thompson, i ask unanimous consent to have entered into the record a statement from Restaurant Owner caron homer, the statement from the owners of hip city veg, a letter from tom keyo, owner of yards brewery, testimony from a distillery owner, and statements from Union Transfer world cafe live, and warehouse on watts on music venues in philadelphia. Without objection. So let me in the time i have remaining, i would like to touch on, and you could tell by the latter statements that i asked to be entered, i would like to touch on the breweries, distilleries and music venues in philadelphia. We have a ton of them, and they are struggling to remain open and solvent during this pandemic, which obviously is through no fault of their own. They offer great value to life here in philadelphia. But even beyond the sort of what they bring to our culture, just in terms of dollars and cents, this is a significant part of our economy. So let me ask to ms. Jayramon, do you think the pandemic will lead to better compensation and support for the Service Industry employees given that we now recognize in a new way just how valuable they are, maybe realizing that now more so than we did prepandemic . And what specifically do you think congress can do to help them . Thank you so much, congressman boyle. Yes, it revealed the untenability of the Compensation Structure of the industry. Pennsylvania is 2. 83. Its one of thats the minimum wage for tipped workers in pennsylvania, one of 43 states with this wage that is completely untenable and was reveal eed to be so during the pandemic. Yes, we are seeing literally hundreds of restaurants change practices on their own voluntarily because frankly, they cant get their workers to come back. Workers are saying, i dont want to go back, expose my family and myself to the virus for a 2 wage or a 3 wage. The gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Bier, youre recognized for five minutes. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. And i especially want to thank the professor for her testimony. Its the most compelling argument i have heard yet about the immorality of the subminimum wage, and thank you, chairman, for holding this important hearing. I know many restaurateurs and workers watching this hearing, like my friend mike, hoping to hear the federal government will give them the aid they desperately need to save their businesses as we continue to keep our communities safe. My wife and i got up at 6 30 this morning to walk the streets of old town alexandria. Re raunt after restaurant after restaurant either closed or with tables in the middle of the street. We cant let them down. Thats why i support my dear friend Earl Blumenauers restaurant act, as well as the heroes like the expanded ertc and the paid leave that would allow restaurant workers stay home if theyre sick and give the communities that rely on them a necessary lifeline. Some restaurants, though sadly not all, have been able to make it to this point by combining takeout business and outdoor service. We seem to do the takeout every night, and we try not to use the Delivery Services only because of the 30 . But as temperatures drop, you know, combined with the possibility of increasing case loads, we see stubborn 5 positivity test rate, the federal support becomes necessary day by day by day. Restaurants arent the only industry. There are so many others that are relying on an ertc through ppp, the restart act, but let me read some testimonials from constituents sent to me. A restaurant worker in alexandria. Restaurant workers were struggling before this crisis hit. Now its even worse. Most of us are still unemployed or underemployed with no relief in sight. On top of that, most of us still dont have access to paid sick days. Were shcalling on you to provi leadership in this time. They need to pass the heroes act and present a second stimulus check in the bill. And this one, quote, im an independent Restaurant Operator and reaching out to tell you our Industry Needs meaningful relief to survive the coronavirus pandemic. The Restaurant Industry has faced unparalleled challenges and independent restaurants that operate Small Businesses the hardest. The home town restaurants where you gather with family, friends, and colleagues and are the cornerstones of activities. The c. A. R. E. S. Act doesnt address the real needs of restaurants. Our industry is heavily dependent on cash flow with little or no reserves and our Profit Margins are razor thin. We need relief that fits the unique needs of our industry that is the second largest private sector both locally and nationally. Theres great uncertainty about the impact of coronavirus on our culture, especially on independent restaurants that are the epicenter of Community Gathers and social activity. You both qualified for and received ppp loans. Those clearly were not enough to sustain your businesses and employees for the Long Duration of this pandemic. What changes from the c. A. R. E. S. Act and ppp do you view as necessary for the continued viability of your restaurants . Or in other words, what do you need right now that will allow you to get through . Is that for me or for christine . Why dont you start . Okay. Yeah, i just, you know, looking ahead, i think, you know, theres a lot of valuable substance in the ppp that would help us get people paid and, you know, keep our operating expenses moving. And its just really things are changing so quickly. So its hard to know. Are we going to be inside, are we going to be outside . Can we have were not outside, will we have 25 or 50 . So the numbers are moving all the time, and yeah. So ill give it to christine. I think initially, my restaurant, we didnt get the first round of funding. We had to reapply. We did get it in the second one. I think just being able to expand the program, meaning, you know, i think less restrictions on it, we also need help with operating costs. We are a Restaurant Industry. Were Holding Inventory that is food that can quickly go bad. We need help with paying for ppe, putting up plexiglass to protect our staff and the guests. I think if there was an expansion on the restrictions on such federal aid to help us do other things that require to operate the business, that would be helpful. Thank you. The gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Kelly, youre recognized for five minutes. Mr. Kelly, are you with us . Well come back to mr. Kelly. Sorry to jump over you, mike. You can hear me, right, chairman . Yes. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for pulling this together. Really appreciate it. I would like submit for the record a letter from the u. S. Travel association. Where they talk about how their Unemployment Rate is 34. 5 versus the National Average of 8. 4 and how theyre affected by the downturn. Without objection, that should be the order. Thank you very much. I want to thank all the witnesses. Mayor, im a former mayor myself. I can just imagine how frustrating it is for you when you have all your local residents coming to you and you dont have the power to fix this problem. This is a National Problem that requires the federal governments help, and my heart goes out to you, and sondra bernstein, thank you so much. It was inspiring to listen to you talk about the joy you get from serving people, and christine ha, the same thing. I want you to know, ms. Ha, when i was listening to you, i was looking at the faces of my colleagues and people were smiling listening to your story. Everything that you shared with us, and Mario Sandoval and ms. Jayramond, thank you for making it clear its not just about the businesses but its about the works and there are so many people unemployed, and the unployment rate among workers is higher than just about any other industry in the country. Especially catering halls. We have 8,000 catering halls on long island, and the reaction to the coronavirus has been so uneven. You know, right now, Grocery Stores are doing great. Online businesses are doing great. Some restaurants have a lot of outdoor capacity, and theyre doing pretty well. And they have takeout businesses that are doing well, but other places dont have outdoor facilities and they just shut down. And people are afraid to go indoors, and some places have restrictions on going indoors. Its just so uneven and so unfair, and its so frustrating here in washington where we know we have to do something and were not getting it done. And i want to associate myself with all of my colleagues remarks, everything everybody has had to say, except for mr. Rice. Im not going to associate myself with mr. Rices remarks because theyre so divisive and so inappropriate. I think we need to really figure out how we can get going today. And i want to thank mr. Rodrigue for him being here today as well and i want to ask him some questions if i may. Are you there, mr. Rodrigue . Yes, sir, thank you. How many restaurants would you say there are in the United States . I say some places where it says 685,000. Other places say a million. Do you have any sense of how many restaurants there are in america . Food Service Establishments are in the million range. And would you say how many people were employed in the Restaurant Catering business before the pandemic . 15. 1 million. And how what would you say the Unemployment Rate is now among the Restaurant Business . Right now, we have about 7 million unemployed. So just think about that. 7 million of 15 million. Almost 50 of people are unemployed. Unemployment rate nationwide is 8. 5 . So this is just a devastating impact on this industry. Thats why im so happy im cosponsoring, original cosponsor with Earl Blumenauer on the restaurants act. It provides 120 billion in grants, outright grants to restaurants that compare their 2020 revenues to their 2019 revenues. And that would be like such a god send to the people that are suffering so much, and for those restaurants that are doing fine, their revenues wont be as off from 2019 as they are in 2020. But for those places that are shut down or cant open, theyre only indoor, they have no outdoor facilities, theyll get a lot of help. So it really makes a lot of sense to me. We have the winter coming. And down where you are, mr mr. Rodr,mr. Rod mrmr. Rod mr. Rodrigue, its very different. Senator cassidy is one of the lead sponsors for federal aid. He wants to get state and local aid. People say this is not holding ransom, something absurd like that. Your senator who is a republican is one of the strongest sponsors of state and local aid. And i want to point out that im the vice chairman of a group called the Problem Solvers Club to try to find Common Ground on some of these issues here. We have 25 republicans to agree that we need to have 500 billion in state and local aid. And we got 25 democrats to agree we need to do some liability reform. Mr. Rodrigue, what do you think the most important thing we need to do for the restaurants is . Is it ppp . The gentlemans time has expired. Sorry about that. Were going to go back to mr. Kelly. Youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you, chairman. We were having trouble getting unmuted. First of all, ms. Ha, tommy said about listening to the testimony, and you could see the faces smiling at the time. Thats one of the most inspirational Panel Members i have ever listened to. And how from the time your family left vietnam, you came here, you faced an uphill battle every step of the way. But you have never stopped. You just keep going. I just i find you so inspirational. It is incredible sitting here with some of the staff, and were looking at each other, please, i dont want to hear anybody say how hard their life has been. No, im serious. Youre so inspirational. From the very time you left vietnam to when you came here, its amazing. I think we all appreciate everybodys presence here today, and mike, thanks for having this. I know that every one of us has the same problem. Doesnt matter what state youre in, what town you live in. All of you are in the same boat. Im also my family has been in the Retail Business, were Third Generation now. But i think we look at whats happening, and all the states have the ability to do what they think is best, whats responsible and smart. One of the problems i have, i have to tell you, in pennsylvania, we now are second only to california in the restrictive guidance. And yeah, were number 41, if you look at all 50 states, were number 41 in number of cases. So its not leak we have a lot of cases, so we think, why cant we open up . In pennsylvania, Governor Wolf is determined you can be open but you can only have 25 capacity. Well, 25 capacity doesnt get you anywhere. Any of us who have been in the Retail Business or anyone in business at all understand you better be open in order to make it work. We work on such a small profit margin, it really has been one of those things that drivers you crazy. So our retail sales go down. But the cost of operation doesnt go down. I mean, you still have a high cost of operation with ppp. That helped an awful lot, but its just for a very short window. The answer to all of this, honestly, im interested to see what we think we can do next, but if were going to prioritize things, lets really prioritize things. I would rather see something, and please dont be offended by this, i have a messaging bill that handled the economy and the message they need to hear, not another message directed to what could possibly happen on november 3rd. I think we wasted a lot of time, and people are sick and tires of being sick and tired with what we do down here. So when i look at, you know, 175,000 people, the restaurants are shut down in pennsylvania, were talking about great, great numbers of people that are going to be unemployed, not until we get a cure for the china flu, but forever. Theyre just not going to be able to reopen. Theres a peerx tomiece, tommy, talked about your piece with problem solvers. But im on a piece called the restart act with congressman golden and senators young and senator bennett. We have half the senate is on board with this, so any of my colleagues, look at the restart act, ask your team to look at restart act. See if you want to be on it because what it does, it provides a loan for up to six months of operating expenses. Part of the loan would be forgivable with a much longer repayment of seven years. Because you represent so many people, and i have to tell you, all of you independent owners, i know how tough it is for you right now. My business was shut down for four months. We were considered a nonessential business, which was okay. Thats a great term, but for the people that work there, they dont like to look at themselves as nonessential. All these different programs that we have, and it has to be an economic package, what is it that you would see we could do next that would really be helpful . I truly believe if we could get a restaurant specific bill passed, that would be spectacular. We support the Senate Version of restaurants act because of its inclusiveness, but we really need any lifeline that can be given to us at this point. There are so many that are in dire need. And running out of time. So another round of ppp would be great. And with similar restrictions or parameters as the last. Your restart program would be spectacular as well. Anything that can give us an opportunity to capitalize to bring people back to work and give us staying power. We need staying power to the point in time where capacities are back to where they need to be in a safe fashion for employees and customers, and its going to take all the help we can get, so we would definitely support your program. Okay, thats great. Mike, thanks for having this hearing. Lets all try to get together to help these folks. Thank you very much. The gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Davis, youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Although im not a member of this committee, let me thank you for giving me the opportunity to wave on. I think all of us would agree that the Restaurant Industry is one of the hardest hit industries as a result of the dual health and economic crisis that we face. The workers, the owners, the suppliers, everybody all have actually lost. And of course, in chicago, where i live, restaurants undergird many entire communities. And especially in my district. I represent Downtown Chicago. And you dont come to chicago and not go to the loop to see what the restaurants are like and to have a meal. I represent chinatown, greektown, old town, oak park, forest park, river park, all of these communities are restaurant known. People go to them specifically to engage in their restaurants. Some of the restaurants are absolutely essential. The traditional soul food eateries are basically wiped out. Places like mcarthurs, wallaces catfish corner, lowrys Just Announced they are going to close. So brunsville, ukrainian village, restaurant places, the workers are used to making minimum wage, now, of course, they have no wage. They have no other place to turn but to their government. Where else can they go . They dont have savings, stocks, or 401 k s. And as the professor indicated and mentioned, one young worker from chicago named kamani was paid in cash, which both lessened his takehome pay and excluded him from Unemployment Benefits. Of course, im a cosponsor of Earl Blumenauers restaurant act, enthusiastically cosponsor it. The house just passed critical policies to help restaurants and workers over four months ago. We enhanced Employee Retention tax credit, new Economic Impact payments, expanded paid family and medical leave, and critical child care tax credits. Yet, the Republican Senate leadership has refused to help restaurants and workers. Professor, your testimony spoke about the particular vulnerability of restaurant workers given their history of poor wages and lack of benefits. Can you speak about the policies that would be most helpful to workers in the immediate future and could you articulate for us what really happened to kamani . Yes, thank you, Congress Member davis. Kamani hill was a restaurant worker paid 5 an hour plus a few dollars in tips in cash, still working at the same restaurant, 12hour shifts, and wasnt able to access Unemployment Insurance, as you said, went back to work, and is fighting every day with custo r customers asking them to wear masks. And then not getting tips as a result, and in august while he was at work on one of these 12hour shifts, his mother passed away from covid, which is, you know, it has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus, and without access to health care and support, kamani was not able to help his mother. The thing is that these crazy and horrific stories are not going unnoticed by employers, so when you ask what can be done, it is great that youre thinking about saving restaurants through the restaurants act and through tax credits. I hope you are thinking about, and many of you have spoken about this, how we can come together and think about both employers and workers needs. And for workers, we applaud the house for passing traise the wae act. Need that to become federal law so people arent paid 2 an hour. We applaud you for passing the 600, we need more than that, but theres more workers and employers can do together, particularly with providing employers with tax credits for doing the right thing. The gentlemans time has expired. Youre recognized for five minutes. Well, thank you. And i would like to address these questions to christine ha. Christine ha, your story is truly inspirational. And im speaking as not only a member of the ways and Means Committee but also as a member of the house Small Business committee, and also as chair of the congressional Asian Pacific american caucus. With your restaurant, you have been able to expose people to a culturally diverse cuisine. Youre a womanowned business. And youre blind. And yet, you have gotten awards galore. Its frankly utterly amazing. And so as a member of the house Small Business committee, id like to ask, i am a member of well, in fact, chair of a house subcommittee on oversight in the Small Business committee, so were dedicated to finding solutions for Small Businesses, and also, of course, helping restaurants survive in this pandemic. I have heard from countless Small Businesses who struggled to secure relief funding in the midst of the pandemic that was crushing their livelihoods, and we take that feedback to improve the process for getting the financial help that our Small Businesses need. They talk about big banks who suddenly became unresponsive after years of business dealings with them, to technical errors that caused businesses to have to file and refile their applications. These kinds of barriers prevent Small Businesses from accessing the relief that congress intended. Now, i noted it interest in your testimony that you said you applied for ten Financial Relief programs, but you only received two. Can you talk about your experience in applying for these programs and what happened, which programs were the most frustrating to apply to . Did you have to reach out to multiple banks to find a lender that was willing to accept your application . And were you able to receive assistance from the Small Business administration such as the Economic Disaster loan and Grant Program . The Grant Program is supposed to give you money straight out. So im wondering what your process was in securing financing for your restaurant . Yes, thank you, congresswoman. I will speak back to initially when all of the federal relief programs were out, we did apply for the eidl. Initially, that was a confusing process where i think the website was just crashing. We werent able to logon, so i missed out on that initial round. The ppp, similar. The application process was very cumbersome. I reached out following the rules to the bank that we were banking at. And then did not hear back for a long time. I was hearing from other restaurateurs that i know that they said just apply to any bank. So we were applying to multiple banks. We were denied by many of them because they said we have already initially applied to our first bank. Fortunately, in the second round of funding, we did receive, not through the bank we bank at, but through a lender of one of our equipment, so we received that. I have applied to all sorts of Grant Programs that i am eligible for, being a womanowned business, being in texas, i spent a lot of hours doing that. This is mainly just to pass on the money to my staff to make sure that they can put food on their tables. I am not on salary. I dont take any bonuses since we first opened. Everything is for the business and for the staff. The one grant i did receive was from the texas Restaurant Association for 2,500, which a large portion of that we did use to give back to the community and provide meals for First Responders and just feeding the county hospitals and clinics because one of the core values at the blind goat to is commit to helping others around you. I think as a community, were all kind of fighting for the survival together, so you know, the process has been definitely difficult. Theres a lot of rules that are very difficult to understand, as you know, just a business owner, were dealing with so many things. Operating our business, making sure our staff is okay, trying to apply for Financial Relief. So i mean, thats kind of been my personal process with doing all of this, and of course, because i am visually impaired, im using computers that require screen readers so oftentimes my application process takes even longer as i have to navigate different applications with the screen reader. Thank you for that. Let me ask a question also as the chair of the Asian Pacific american caucus, there are those who have have had to those businesses that have had to shoulder xenophobic fears that drive customers away. I know that in my district in Southern California, several asian Grocery Stores and restaurants are subject of racist smear campaigns. Did you experience any of that . As a business, i did not notice it, but my staff, many of them who are asian american, said they have experienced that in their own neighborhoods or coming into work. So i wouldnt say i have directly. Our sales did drop, but its hard to say, im not sure if its due to just covid and people not eating out or if its because we serve primarily asian food. That one, congresswoman, im not sure i can completely answer 100 . Thank you. The gentleladys time has expired. Mr. Estes, youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you for our witnesses for joining us today. Shutdowns, regulators, and Service Industry downturned have impacted restaurants across the country, including those in my district in kansas. One example in my district is an event venue outside of wichita that has faced unique hardships during this pandemic. In 2019, the owners worked their entire lives to save enough money to open an xengz aexcepti country western venue. They were so new, the c. A. R. E. S. Act funding did not address their specific situation. I worked tirelessly to try to assist them through these difficult times, and kansas restaurants in general are facing challenges as well. In the month of august, 86 of kansas restaurants say their total dollar Sales Volumes are lower than a year ago with sales down an average of 28 . Even more discouraging is 78 say the conditions were worse in august than in july. Restaurants and event venues such as the wichita stockyards are facing unique challenges which is why we need to work to bring targeted relief to employees and owners. Unfortunately, my democrat colleagues would like to burden restaurants by doubling the minimum wages and imposing more regulations. We heard from the Budget Office that increasing the minimum wage has a direct and damaging effect to employment. Restaurant owners are already navigating state and local regulations. We cannot pile federal regulations that are one size mandates on Small Business owners. Instead, i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pursue Bipartisan Solutions to keep americans employed and keep our small local restaurants open. In august, i cosponsored hr7481, the restart act. This Bipartisan Legislation will provide longterm loans to restaurants, independent music venues, and other Small Businesses that operate within the Service Industry. I even had the opportunity to tour an independent music venue to see the challenges theyre facing firsthand and how the restart act would help them stay in business. This bill is similar to paycheck Protection Program, which has proven to be effective to keeping employees connected to Small Businesses around the country. It allows small rest rants to use this for rent, payroll, ppe, and sanitation. With Bipartisan Solutions like that on the taib tabble, its n smart to hurt businesses and communities. We should look at solutions to keep workers employed and not force employers to cut staffing even further. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both side of the aisle to pass legislation that will help American Workers, aide local businesses, and rebuild our economy. And with that, let me turn to mr. Rodrigue. We heard from other witnesses that minimum wages for restaurant workers is 2 to 4. What is the actual average wage for restaurant workers . And can you walk us through the tip credit and how it makes up the difference between tipped minimum wage and standard minimum wage . Yes, congressman. Thank you for the opportunity to clarify that. I think that there is some confusion because theres no one that makes 2. 13 an hour. In the event that someone does not receive gratuity, the employer is actually required to make up the difference. So theres no one who makes 2. 13 an hour. Anecdotally, ill tell you that its an opportunity. And i have a young africanamerican lady that has been working with me for nearly 18 years. She began when she was 18. Shes in her mid30s now, and at 2. 13 an hour, plus her gratuities, her total compensation last year was 103,000. The tipped employees in my restaurant last year averaged well above 40,000 a year in total compensation. And it is a system that they want. And i would say that thats not the exception. That is the normal. This employee began with me as a dishwasher. Then she began making salads. Then she became a buske ebusser bartender. For the last five or six years shes been a server, and at 2. 13 an hour plus her gratuities, her total compensation, again, was over 100,000. This is not the exception. This is the norm. In addition to that, i would just like as a moment of personal privilege to let you know, it is maybe the most moving thing about my job. I can tell you that there are dozens of people that meet that that thank you. I yield back. Gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Kildee, youre recognized if five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for holding this very important hearing on the status of restaurants and, of course, other Small Businesses. Restaurants in my district, im sure this is true everywhere, are really the fabric of our citizen towns. Theyre a source of character, theyre where people meet. Its where people interact. Its more than just, as many of the witnesses have said, more than just an opportunity to serve food. So when Congress First passed the paycheck Protection Program, the uptake was pretty significant. But its not enough because after the ppp ran dry, were still in the depths of this pandemic. I know in my own district, in michigan, in the fifth district, almost 350 restaurants and bars received those ppp loans, accounting for almost 10,000 jobs. Almost 10,000 jobs that were at least temporarily saved. Michigans phased reopening, which is based on science, based on good data, has moved forward with some limited indoor seating, but obviously, in michigan, unlike other parts of the country, the upcoming winter will absolutely put an end to outdoor seating, leading to an even more stressful future for those restaurants and their workers who have been able to get through because of those modified conditions under which they can remain open. As we have heard in the house we passed the heroes act, which provided to make sure workers have a paycheck, but theres been no action in the senate. So this is yet to translate to our main street restaurants. I have heard from a lot of restaurant proprietors back home throughout my district that the need is still really significant, and many of them right now, even as we speak, are on the verge of collapse. Theres lots of different pieces of this, i have introduced legislation along with mr. Evans from this committee. The relief for main street act, that would help provide resources to our very smallest businesses, often small restaurants, especially minorityowned businesses. This funding distributed through these already established local relief funds, can provide more flexible options. For small Neighborhood Restaurants to do whats needed to keep their doors open. Whats needed in michigan is not necessarily what would be required in florida to get through this winter. So we want to create some flexibility. These local relief funds that would be delivered not in the context of the ppp where its arforgivable loan structure, i think it would be particularly helpful to very Small Businesses that might be reluctant to accept even those generous terms of the ppp loan. So im curious, particularly from ms. Bernstein and ms. Ha, if you can talk about whether or not you have been able to access or heard of other restaurants being able to access local relief funds and whether or not that is something you think would be helpful in terms of just getting through the really tough times that i think a lot of places are going to see. Ms. Ha . Yeah, so thank you for that question, congressman. I will say that currently, im waiting to hear back from the local governments grant. It was very enticing because it is a grant, and its relief that will be brought to us immediately if we can get it, so im in the process for that. So anything when i hear locally, whether its state or local or federal aid that is offered that i qualify for or my business qualifies for, i do apply for that, and it is helpful when its a grant where we dont have to worry so much about figuring out how to pay it back. At an Interest Rate or anything, just anything really to help us just continue to operate and keep our doors open and our staff saf is helpful. Thank you. And thank you so much for your testimony. Ms. Bernstein, do you have a thought on this before my time expires . Yeah, i would just say that we generally dont qualify under some of the local grants and opportunities, even though i consider us a very Small Business, with a different component to it, we are excluded because were looked at as a larger business. So thats been kind of an issue for us. And i just want to state that, you know, my desire is all about taking care of our team. You know, its just, without our staff, it is, you know, they have nothing. And were directing them the best we can to any kind of local opportunities that they can get in organizations or things in our community. Thank you. The gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Evans, youre recognized for five minutes. Mr. Evans, are you still with us . Well skip over to mr. Snyder and come back in a minute. Thank you. Yes, thank you, mr. Chairman. Can you hear me . We can. Great. Thank you. I want to thank the committee for holding this important hearing. As always, i want to thank the staff for navigating the challenges of hearings during these unique times. As this committee has discussed throughout the crisis, we have two distinct challenges facing the country. First, of course, is the Public Health components of the pandemic affecting people from further spread of the disease. As our witnesses have discussed, this poses unprecedented economic challenges as well. Congress passed the c. A. R. E. S. Act and subsequent legislation, and while the house took a forward looking approach to help the country prepare for the covid resurgence in the fall, there Senate Continues to drag its feet. Few Small Businesses have faced the brunt of this crisis like our restaurants. They are woven into the facric of our community and have remains ever adaptive in their attempts to stay afloat throughout the crisis. Many of these restaurants benefitted from ppp loans while state and Health Regulations that largely dictated capacity. Frask, a local brewery and Restaurant Owner in my district told my office how the efforts Congress Took in the spring helped them survive the summer, but arent nearly enough to get them through the upcoming winter. Unexpectedly cool weather earlier this month put everyone on notice how hard it will be operating in the winter months in places Like Northern chicago without outdoor seating. Another constituent who owns and operates a restaurant in Downtown Chicago told my office even with the Curbside Service pickup that generated more revenue than they were expecting, they were still losing far more money than they were taking in. He said he expected half of the restaurants, half of the restaurants to close in chicago. The administrations proposals like a payroll tax deferment are not serious solutions. They dont offer the restaurants the help they need, and Mitch Mcconnell continues to drag his feet on another relief package is unconscionable. My questions for our restaurateurs, first off, with six months into the pandemic and were likely to have at least another six months of challenges. How do businesses like yours plan for such uncertainty in the face of these challenges, how critical is it for you to get additional federal assistance . And how do you talk to your family, to your employees about the stonewalling were seeing in getting this assistance to you . We are if we cannot get any assistance as we move forward, were going to tighten up everything, shut down as much as possible, and what i would say is close the cash down. I think thats the only way we can get through to spring because of the weather that were going to have. I hope thats not the case because thats going to put a lot of people in need. But we cant continue paying with money that we dont have. Ms. Ha . For me, i believe in always running a transparent company. Fortunately, my company is small, so my staff is about, were at 13 employees. So i have always been transparent with them and up front. When i did receive the ppp, i told them we would be using all that money to help pass it along to them so that they can put food on their table. I have let them know that this past payroll period is the last of our ppp. So i will be having that talk with them to let them know that they will be seeing decreases in their paychecks in the next six months if we do not get additional aid, because that has been our only lifeline. We will have to think about possibly just closing down, which is really hard because i have poured everything into this, and you know, im trying to live the American Dream that my parents came over here for, so, you know, it is something that we are having to consider that might become a reality. Well, im sorry the conversations youre having are Difficult Conversations that are being held in businesses and communities across our country. The pandemic is an unprecedented challenge. We have never seen anything like it, but its imperative we continue to provide the relief like we did with the c. A. R. E. S. Act and proposed with the heroes act, so businesses like yours can stay open. That we can get to a place where we achieve the recovery, put our economy back on track, to deliver to our children the future that they all deserve and to renew the American Dream. So i want to thank our witnesses. Im out of time, but im so grateful for you sharing your stories here today, for the perseverance you demonstrate in your businesses and associations and i hope we can find a path to provide the assistance necessary. With that i yield back. Thank the gentleman. Mr. Evans, are you back with us . Well go to the Ranking Member, mr. Smith. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I really want to thank all our witnesses. Obviously, im frustrated with kind of the timing of such a hearing, but it certainly does not diminish from what you have to say, and im grateful that you would share your experiences to hear your entrepreneurial stories, its amazing. And you know, part of the frustration i have is we had such a great economy, in my opinion, and i think factually so, before covid hit, so its been devastating, make no mistake. I would be curious to hear your, ms. Ha, ms. Bernstein, your perspective, precovid, would you say we had a pretty Strong Economy going . Your perspective prekoi precovid, would you say we had a good economy going. I would say we recovered from the wildfires. That was a huge, huge fight. And 2020 should have 2019 was amazing. 2020 looked like it was going to be good, especially in our catering with the amount of opportunities that were coming with events and celebrations and i think this could have been a record year had it not been we would have had more employees to hire as well. Ms. Ha. For the blind goat it is hard to say because were fairly new. Weve only been open for a year. But prepandemic we were seeing our sales climbing every month. And so i would say that we did have a lot of traffic coming through our doors , people were spending money and eating out and enjoying themselves so at the blind goat we were doing well economically. Mr. Rodrique, would you say the economies would strong before covid. Yes. Literally the First Quarter of 2020 excluding the second half of march was the busiest quarter in the history of our 115yearold restaurant. Wow. Very good. And now i want to make this simple, if each of our panelists could unmute themselves and i have a quick yes or no question and that is should we extend the Payroll Protection Program as soon as possible. Ill start with you miss burnstein. Yes. Mrs. Ha. Yes. Mayor dyer. Yes. Mr. Sandoval . Yes. And mr. Rodrique . Yes. Thank you. I appreciate the direct approach there. Mr. Rodrique i would like to take a moment and perhaps discuss your restaurant in nebraska. Nebraska did not institute the statewide requirements like other states, there have been some flexibility, albeit cautious but along the way im wonder field goal you have fo d wondering if the impact has been the proportional to the lockdowns in your communities. There has definitely been many approaches but when with you look at the map of the country, the more locked down, the worst the performance. Okay. Thank you. I would like to add that we have a discharge petition going for the Payroll Protection Program. And i would urge all of my colleagues to sign that. I think signing it is certainly direct reflection of the input here today. And i just think it is vital and now i just realized i missed one of the panelists on the Payroll Protection Program. Any apologies. Ms. Gerry mond, i forgot to ask you. With the payroll protections, yes. Did i miss anyone else . I think that is all of the panelists . But, again, i would urge my colleagues to sign that discharge petition. This is an opportunity to Work Together to help america. And i think the American People want us to Work Together. They dont like seeing leaders hold out various things, they want us to help folks all across america and if it involves more than one vote, lets consider that, too. But the fact of the matter is we have some work to do and we need to get that done. So, again, thank you for your, i think, inspiring entrepreneurial stories. Ms. Ha, you mentioned before the hearing started that you have actually youre in the middle of a soft opening of a new restaurant. I really commend that bravery. I know you said you signed a lease before covid hit so i definitely wish you well. I want everyone to do well. Miss jerrymond im interested in how we could empower workers and we live in an economy now where individualism is on the rise. Thank you for empowering individual workers. The gentlemans time is expired. Mr. Pineda, youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you, chairman thompson, i appreciate this opportunity and more importantly i appreciate you holding this crucial hearing that is so important to my district on the Central Coast california. So thank you for that and obviously Ranking Member smith, thank you as well. As i said, my district is the Central Coast of california, santa cruz, santa clara, monterey, california, so they are hart of the heart and soul of our community and restaurants shaped the heart and soul of me and my family to be frank. My italian immigrant grandfather was fortunate enough to come to this country and own a restaurant during the war years, world war ii. And back then, as you could imagine, child labor laws meant that your children worked. And so my father and my grand father worked in the restaurant. My dad was a dishwasher. My two brothers and i followed in my dads footsteps in the sense that our first jobs we were dishwashers as well. Well i was started off as a busboy until i spilled the tartar sauce on a customer and then made me a dishwasher. I started off with a restaurant with the most cheesiest name back in 1981 but fit for 1981. It was a restaurant called the velvet fox, if you could imagine that. It closed doon soon after i worked there but what do you expect. But i continue to say being from monterey and carmel valley, i continued to work in restaurants and it allowed me to pay my way through college. And my time in restaurants it made me realize how much opportunity you provide for the people of our community. Yes, you serve our customers. But, man, you give everybody in our communities that opportunity. And what were seeing right now, because of covid19, were seeing the opportunities shut down because were seeing restauranting shut down. In my district, because of the restaurants, it is uneekly impacted. Weve had Paradise Beach grill and holiggans and dekons restaurant in big sur have all closed their doors permanently. Congress has the ability to ability to restaurants and we must do so and we must do so soon and i support and cointroduced many of the bills you heard about to he had. Restaurants act, chairman thompson keep the lights on act, rep murphyez job credit act and im introduced legislation with mike kelly, the safe reopening tax credit to help Small Businesses cover the expenses that produce the spread of the virus such as ppp, plexiglass and improvements for social distancing and the heroes act and ppp funding. But obviously we must do more and for the sake of our restaurants we must do more and for the sake of opportunity, we must do more. We me do more more restaurants currently open and one restaurant in big sur, he send my quote that relief from congress is absolutely essential in the form of a second round of ppp, additional ppp flexibility, provisions and tax credits to mitigate the negative impacts associated with the pandemic. Now ms. Burnstein im sure youve heard these type of stories that restaurants are adapting to survive but it is very expensive. How helpful would it be to offset this with tax credits which would cover expenses such as ppe and plexiglass and other expenses that could make things safer . It would be incredible. We have spent so much money in building tables and extensions and signage and masks and so many other things that it could be extremely helpful. Mr. Rodrique, what with your thoughts on tax credit to offset these type of costs . I think it would be wonderful. As it currently stands, were operating at reduced capacity but because of the effort going into it, were spending more Money Capital we dont necessarily have in these difficult times and any tax credit of that nature would be in full support of. It would be a great help. I just have a few seconds left and ill yield back my time and but i want to say thank you for all you do now and thank you for continuing to provide the opportunity through my community and this country. I yield back. The gentlemans time has expired. Miss murphy, youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing and now allowing me to waive on to your committee. And miss ha, thank you for sharing your family story, i can relate as my family is refugees from vietnam. Your story is a story of grit and the American Dream and i know youre exhibiting incredible grit right now in this moment. And congress i think has a responsibility to help hard working americans through this crisis to pursue their American Dreams. Two weeks ago we have a negative hearing about the impact on our constituents and communities and sold today we talk about something vital to the economy and any district in the orlando area. This affects us because were heavily dependent on high Touch Industries like tourism and hospitality and so it led to pockets of my community with over 15 unemployment. But it is a great pleasure to have the honorable buddy dwyer, mayor of orlando, here with us today as a witness. Youve been an incredible leader of our city since long before i entered politics and through difficult times im fortunate november you have a partner in serving our shared constituents, so thank you for your testimony. And i would say that Congress Needs to act and act now. We could have hearingsing in were blue in the face and hearing how businesses and people are hurting but that is not going to change anybody lives. Legislative action will. And there are two proposals that im working on with bipartisan support and could be the basis of any compromise, the first is expanding the employee tax credit and a safe reopening tax credit. We know that the ertc keeps employees on payroll to receive Health Insurance which is critically important in the midst of a pandemic. And that keeps them from having engage with an onerous unemployment system. And then the economy isnt go fog return to normal until people feel safe engaging with businesses and restaurants with one very obvious example of Small Businesses trying to survive and navigate new standards of protocol and of safety. And the witnesses in response to my colleague from california, laid out that they have been experiencing these unexpected costs that are necessary to safeguard the health of their employees and customers alike. So we should be helping them survive but also to operate in a safe way. Mayor dwyer, ive highlighted a few tools here in congress to help restaurants but what are some of the things that orlando has done to make it easier for restaurants to operate during the pandemic . What tools are you using . Well, certainly we dont have the resources to give grants or loans. But what weve done is thought outside of the box in terms of when their at limited capacity, to help them expand the capacity. So normally you couldnt set up tables in a private parking lot or a public sidewalk. We allowed them without go rg through permitting to do that and ol okayed Parking Spaces that are adjacent to their businesses in two different ways. One is to create a 15minute time limit so there could be pickup on promises and then the other thing weve done is actually let them use the parking spots as what we call parklets. Putting tables out in the street. Weve allowed them without permitting to do additional signage and set up tents and getting back to business, that is what a lot of restaurants do need, is an infusion of capital so they could take advantage of the other opportunities they have to be able to serve thur customers. In your Opening Statement you mentioned ppp and the expanded ertc as measured that could be helpful. You could talk about how you think they could be helpful because weve heard other propose other ideas like grants and loans and industry bailout funds and state and local aid. Why do you pick these two programs in particular. I think the ease of accessibility. Some have applied to ten different programs and being accepted into two. So the tax credits, the tax code already exists and this is not a criticism of congress, but sometimes when new programs are set up trying to weave through the new rules or the uncertainty of how you could use and when you could use the money and how you access the money could be difficult. Well i certainly agree with you. That is why ive been such a big proponent of the ertc and it talks about uncertainty and changing standards and regulation for entrepreneurs who are already struggling. Thank you so much for your time and i yield back. The gentle laids time is expired. Mr. Horseford youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you for allowing me to participate, mr. Chairman. A assume most if not all of americans that las vegas is known as the entertainment capital of the world. Our specialty is hospitality. Particularly our topnotch restaurants that people from across the world come to las vegas to enjoy. But lets be clear, it is because of the people, the workers who provide this unparallels service that nearly 40 Million People visit our community. So i want to thank them. And i know this firsthand because before coming to congress im proud to run the Culinary Training Academy which helped to train thousands of people in the greatest hospitality workers that go on to work in our casinos, our restaurants and our hotels. But the coronavirus has hit the Southern Nevada economy unlike anything ive ever seen before. Resulting in record high unemployment this summer at over 30 . 98 of the Culinary Union workers were furloughed from jobs in march and about 50 are still not working today. That is why im so proud that mario, who worked at beniggans steak hout for 33 years in downtown las vegas is here speaking on behalf of millions of restaurant workers that are still struggling to because the Restaurant Industry unfortunately is one of the last industries to get back on its feet. So mario, i want to give you the opportunity as im probably one of the last speakers, to tell us why you matter. Why restaurant workers matter, why Congress Needs to step up and act and protect our citizens from this health and economic pandemic right now. You know, we dont get to hear too often from the everyday people struggling from this pandemic and i know you were a big part of the fight in nevada to win a historic covid19 health and safety law that ensures hospitality works have stronger protections at work. So congratulations on that new law. It is the first in the nation. And i hope that congress will act as well. So mario, i know that youre laid off and working hard to fight for the right to return to your job. Can you share with us why is the right to return important . Can you also share with my fellow lawmakers what it means to you personally regarding housing and health care, putting food on the table and providing for yourself and your family if congress doesnt deliver another stimulus check or extend federal Unemployment Benefits. And finally, how will my bills, the Worker Health protection to cover cobra and get back on your feet back to extend unemployment and provide a back to work bonus for those who could savely return to work, what do these bills mean for you . Well, first of all, as a father, ive provided for a long time for my children. And now im a grandfather. And i have my grandchildren, my family still to take care of. And as an employee in the Service Industry, we make this town. Were the ones that park your car, we serve your food, we make your drink, we serve your drink, we make the bed, so you could come to this town and enjoy it. That is all thats the way we do things here. Service has been my job my whole life. Ive made that my career. And i do it really, really well. You come to my restaurant, i make it an experience for you. Not just something to eat. It is an experience, you know. But, now, with this covid going on, the covid law in the nation, which it offers enhanced hand washing and cleaning and masking and training and contact tracing, that needs to go across the nation, not just here in nevada, you know. Also the right to return to work, you know, this didnt happen to no fault of anybody, and i have ive given my life to my job. Ive gone through the ups and downs with my job. Now they should give me the opportunity to go back to it, a job. We agree with you. Because with the highs and lows with them, you know. We agree and were going to keep fighting. Im willing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, the house, the senate, the white house, we have to come together and agree on a compromise, it must put workers first, yes, it could help Small Businesses in our restaurants too, but lets go both and do it now. The gentlemans time is expired. Thank you to all of the witnesses for doing just a fantastic job. And thank you for being with us today and sharing your stories. To all of the members of committee and those who waived on for todays hearing, thank you very much. And everyone please be advised that members have two weeks to submit written questions to be answered later in writing. Those questions and your answers will be made part of the formal hearing records. With that, this subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank you. Weeknight this is month were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of what is available every weekend on cspan3. Tonight, reel america, archival films as the u. S. Postal service and the role in voting by mail are the subject ofdaly news reports we feature several historic films on the postal service. Watch tonight at 8 00 eastern. American history tv this week and every weekend on cspan3. The first president ial debate between President Trump and former Vice President joe biden is tuesday night at 9 00 eastern from cleveland. Watch live on cspan. Biden is recklessly campaigning against this vaccine. Hes campaigning, it is really reckless and it is for political reasons. Political reasons. Biden, his whole deal is catastrophic shutdown. And again, in his own words, recorded by bob woodward, the president knew back in february that this was an extremely dangerous communicable disease. Think about it. How many people across the empty dinner tables because of his negligence and selfishness. Watch the first president ial debate live from cleveland, tuesday night on cspan. Stream live on on demand at cspan. Org debates or listen live on the cspan radio app. A Senate Finance subcommittee held a hearing on chinas line censorship and what it means for global trade. Actor richard gear, a Nonprofit Group that advocates to democratic ideals from tibet was among one of the witnesses. Seenate committee on