Revitalizing Our Restaurants w/ Sen. Chuck Schumer

lobby government for help. And it worked. And so for me, this is this is watching democracy really work and and and it all happened because of democracy in Georgia as well. Don't give away my punchline. Hello and welcome to season two of Citizen Chef. I'm your host, Tom Polikio. You may know me from Top Chefs or my restaurants are I'm hoping for this podcast. Since we last spoke, however, the role has been most near and dear in my heart.

What I've been playing for the last year is lobbyist. Yes, I know, lobbyists can sometimes be considered a dirty word, frequently associated with sort of industries occurring for ever in Washington, I get it. But for me, years ago, I was a co founder of Food Policy Action. We published a scorecard and we grated a Congress on how he voted around food issues, which brought me frequently to the hill UM and I was lobbying them, But I was lobbying on behalf of people who were in need of food.

I was lobbying around issues around accessibility and affordability of of food and other other farming issues as well. I was unpaid registered lobbyist UM and still am. But over the last year I have been working with the Independent Restaurant Coalition to lobby our government for directed relief for restaurants. As you all know, restaurants were probably the most affected by the COVID pandemic. The only thing I was going to help and that it wasn't a go funding page,

and it certainly wasn't bake sales. And we needed the federal government to never want to understand the scope and scale of the problem and and then to understand that we needed direct relief, which we did. We got it. It took a year's worth of work, and it took a bunch of people, chefs and restaurant hers across the country that that banned together and just were relentless in making sure that government understood our needs. Chefs that had

never called on a member of Congress. What they were relentless, not only calling members of Congress in their district or their state, but anyone else they can get in touch with. It was it was great to see. Really, I mean, for me, it was really democracy in action. It was a fight. And there were other organizations without naming them that sometimes gotten. The way is it was tough. All bloom Nowers a Member of Commerce from Portland area in Oregon, and he wrote the bill in the House right away,

and he was actually already working on this. Who was some local restaurants in Portland. One of our members from Mississippi, Robert st. John, who ended up writing the bill for the Senate, and that was also supported heavily by Kirsty Cinema from Arizona, as well as so many other people. Hory Booker supported, Christian Jillys, Jim McGovern, Rose at DO, Laura, Shelly Pingry. These are all people who I've worked with

in the past on food policy um. But they were all very supportive, as well as about two hundred plus House members and over fifty members in the Senates. This was truly bipartisan, and of course Speaker Pelosi had her hand in this. Um, the Lasquas who runs the Small Business Association. Uh, so many people really put an instrumental role. But when things looked really bad. Um, you know, when when President Biden was elected, we were not included in

his stimulus package. The night of the Georgia election, when Senator Schumer became the leader of the Senate, we reached out to very quickly and he made promises that we would be included in that package. And he kept his promise. We received some funding twenty point six billion dollars. Uh, it's a lot of money. It's a little short of what we're asking for. As of today, I believe the sp A has already processed well over hundred thousand applications.

And also restaurants that do fewer than five thousand dollars fee than a half million dollars. There's a separate fund for them of five billion dollars. So we're taking care of a lot of people here. Um. Senator Schumer kept his promise. So without further ado, I just want to say thank you Senator Schumer, and welcome to Citizen Chef. How are you good? Number one? Thanks for for agreeing to appear on Citizen chef. This is our our second season.

This this episode is really focusing on restaurant Acts, Restaurant Revitization Act. Uh, it's such an important role that you played in getting this past and and part of the stimulus package. Um. Our listeners may or may not know. Um, the Restaurant Act was not part of President Biden's original stimulus package. I've said this publicly before. But you made a promise to me that it was going to be in there, and you kept your promise. And as I was a majority leader, I was going to do it,

and so you did. It's in there, and so far it's been it's been a huge success. Um. What do you think would have happened if we didn't take Georgia? We didn't take Georgia that you know, here was the problem.

As you know, Tom, restaurants had unique problems, more problems than any other small business because that's where people with the buness is that had the worst trouble in COVID where people gathered together, and so many restaurants were closed, so many restaurants, even when they were open, they could only have twenty five or ten percent of capacity. And then of course for New York when it was winter, people didn't want to eat outside very much. Though restaurants

suffered more than anyone else. And you and I have to give you and the groups you put together real credit. You guys came to me and said we are unique. And I said to Tom, you gotta put together a whole national network, which you did, and there were restauranturs all over the country who got involved. And I promised, if I became majority leader, we would do this special

assistance for restaurants. And the program is really much better than the p p P some some of the issues you're actually some of the issues with p p P. P PP was fine if you were a business, a small business that maybe saw impact on your bottom line. Maybe you laid off a handful of workers, so you were able to bring those workers back, pay them through p p P, pay your rent and then essentially uh

lower your cost and so you did okay. But if you were shuttered, if you were closed, like well restaurants were, it really didn't help at all. Right, so this is a much more generous program. Um you just do you calculate your revenues you lost between right, it's the difference between revenue and twenties revenue UH minus any p p p UM. A restaurant can get up to two million dollars, but restaurant groups are kept at ten million. You don't have to deduct if you got an IDOL grant, you

don't have to deduct it. The earned at tax credit you know where you get paid that didn't get deducted. And here's first, we made it sure that it wasn't just a restaurant per se, but it went to caterers and brew pubs and tap rooms and tasting rooms, all okay. And we also made it very broad. The p p P was very limited in what you could do, and if you didn't, if you had a higher rent, you were because the first BPP said the only fifty percent of your costs could go to UH employees and rents

were so okay. So now it just as very broad. And I'll give I'm gonna list all the things here I have it. Not only it can include rent, utilities, mortgage, maintenance supplies, equipment, cleaning materials, food, operational expenses, supplier costs,

um um. All of that can be included. You know what, when when we when we we made sure that that was there for a reason when we made the claim of how big of a problem uh, having restaurants closed the impact that it wasn't just the impact of the people who worked in restaurants, but it was the entire ecosystem. It was all the suppliers. And so without having that

money flow through to pay for suppliers, you weren't. You can keep that that that that that eco ecosystem intact, more New Yorkers lost jobs who worked in restaurants than any other category. So first it's just unemployed people left. And second, all the suppliers and everybody else would told we stuck back all the way to the agricultural eco system. And third, and this is what you know. Restaurants provide us not just in New York but everywhere, but especially

in New York. We have the best restaurants. In my humble looking, you identify you want to live in a neighborhood because of restaurants. You identify with communities. Because of restaurants. People have made their friends, their partners, their plans. It's a sense of community, it's a common bond over shared food. Listen. Senator Schumer was such a great ally for this bill because he really understands that this isn't a ballout. This

is a heartfelt effort to preserve one of our vital ecosystems. Uh. This is about people's livelihoods. It's it's about preserving the true source of joy for a lot of people, and it's really about keeping communities together and safe. We'll be back with more. Citizen Chef Tom Colochio and I'm talking with Sender Schubert are about a path ahead as the restaurant industry attempts to fall back the losses from the pandemic.

I care about small business people, as you know, Tom, I'll tell your listeners my dad had the opposite of a restaurant. Restaurants bring things to life. We'll use an exterminator terrible business, so we need him in restaurants. Yes, and that's well, that's another part of the ecosystem. That's exactly. But I saw how small business people struggle. So you add the fact that small business. Restaurant is a small business, but then it's a special place for the community. And

then it's organic itself. You know, a restaurants not just seven people or twenty two people working together. It's a team and there's a chef and a Sioux chef, and there's a major d and there's waiters and the waitresses, and and you don't want to lose all that. You lose it, you lose something spiritual almost. So I made it a pledge that we were going to get this done if I became majority leader. Let me give you

some good news here today. This is um. The SBA today informed us that the first wave of restaurant applications have been approved. Sixteen thousand awards worth two billion dollars has been given out and the funds are going to arrive as soon as today for those who have been approved. And I say to your listeners, you don't have to go through a bank. You can just call up the SPA and they will help you. And if you need help, you can call Tom's group, you can call my office.

I have this huge smile on my face. It's you can't see this. You can, but the listeners won won't be able to see this because this is is the coination of a year's worth of work that the Independent Restaurant Coalition did. And we were celebrating when the s b A actually opened up the program for applications. The idea that money is going out today is something that I'm sure all of my colleagues that fought so hard for this program, they're just gonna be just just over

the moon. Yes, Um, you know what happened in the first bill when Trump was around, and frankly the Republicans, they let all the big chains scoop up all the money. They can't get it any more. It was originally twenty five billion, and then I upped it. I you know, was not in the House bill, it was not in the President's bill. But my love for restaurants and my love for my caring about the struggles of small businesses combined said, um, this was a must do. I put it.

I said, I'm not going to put a bill on the floor that doesn't have the Restaurants Act in it. And I got to get your independent restaurant group such credit you were you were, I don't know what how you say the word indefatigable whatever. We must have talked Hi and he is as a chef too. If we didn't have the grass roots, we couldn't have got this

for giving me a lot of credit. And then there's there was so many chefs restaurateurs across the country who who had never reached out to elected officials, and it was just great to watch body stuck. He was a restaurantur in Colorado. He just was NonStop, would call everyone um and just you know. They found that some of the qualities that you have running a restaurant, especially in

the front of the house where you're making relationships. Yeah, and you're that that that really paid off because they understood how to how to figure out what people wanted, what they needed. And so we had to tell a story. Number one. We had a picture coverress understood the issues that restaurants had, and we also had to get it out there to the public. And we also, I gotta say the press. They were also really instrumental because they were allowing us to tell our stories. Right. And by

the way, that's another thing we did to him. We made it nonpartisan. We didn't want it to so that it actually the first amendment I put on the floor of the Senate the power of the Majority Leader. One of them is you determine what goes on the floor of the Senate was a bye part is in bill your bill. The Bypartisan Bill Restaurants Act passed by the sponsors were cinema. She's a Democrat of Arizona, and Wicker

he's a Republican of Mississippi. And that was the first bill we put on the floor, and it passed in a big bipartisan vote, overwhelming. So that means if we run out twenty eight billion in there will have a very good chance and I will fight hard to get it new. So let me that's where I wanted ahead with this, because there's a good chance that it will

run out twenty eight point six billions. It's a it's a big number, but we were asking for a hundred and twenty billion, I believe the number for all restaurants. So if you factor out some of the chains, I think the number was about two hundred billion that we were affecting. Our revenue was affected, but if you factor out some of the big ones, it probably isn't about a hundred and twenty billion. Um. We're sure of that. UM. So we're pretty sure this is gonna going to run out.

We've done a bunch of town halls just to let people know. I mean, we have members of our group walking into restaurants in their community saying, do you know about this? Apply and so, so what is the process that we have to go through now to get the revitalization fund plussed up? Well, when we get a little when we get a little closer, I gave it a few more weeks. Um, you should go do the same

thing you did before. I go to the Senator's Democrat Republican from every corner of the country and say, there are still many more restaurants that have applied that may not get it if we don't knew it, and it since it had such pularity, I think it has a damn good chance. Again, is this a standalone vote, Well, we'll have to design. You know, stand alone votes in

the Senator take a long time. So often get an amendment to something we could hope, you know, I it's too early to tell right now, when and what bill we detach it to God one way or another. I'll do everything I can to get it renewed, and we don't have to make so far. And I don't know what you've heard, Tom, but I've you know, I go to restaurants all the time, and I've heard from the people who are applying that's relatively easy. They're not making

them jump through hoops. So if restaurants who are listening to this podcast haven't applied, please do So's any chefs and restauranturs out there that haven't applied yet, you should go to SPA dot gov and click on the Restaurant

and Vitalization Fund under COVID nineteen relief options. Also, if you don't own a restaurant um you can't help putting a call into your representatives, members of Congress, Senators and let them know that you want to see the Restaurant Vitalization Act plused up if the funding runs out, you want to see more money in their applications. In the first three days, came in from fifty states, fifty different states, includes all the Blue ones and all the Red ones

and five territories as well. A lot of people out there need help. We'll be back with more citizen chef We're back. Independent Restaurant Coalition worked with the SPA to actually stand up the program. Early on, you had to have a SAM number and the d n B number. They dropped that. That was really tumblings. My my director of finance, who's uh you know a c p A has been with me for twenty years. It took him four hours to get those numbers and so they dropped

that um and and they made it easy. They really listened to us, and so it was really great to see government agency working with restaurants. Being Administrator Guzman, so she's very open to suggestions onto how to make it easier. Yeah,

they were great to work with the processes is. It was much easier than even P P P. So we also renew the e r TC, the Revenue Tax Credit, and that means that if you you can pay up to seven you get a tax credit of up to seventy percent of the first forty thousand of people's salary who you didn't who you normally wouldn't be able to keep on because of your lost revenues. So people should look into that. That's in addition to the Restaurants Act. You can do both. Yeah, that notice it has been

hard finding staff. And I'm not one of those who believe that it's because they're more comfortable with unemployment. I think a lot of a lot in our industry. I think a lot of people left the industry. We had a lot of career changes in our industry, and I think they went back to their their careers. Also, a lot of people started their own businesses. You know, they had to make the pivot during COVID and they started baking out of their homes and setting up small businesses.

And I think they've just decided that they'd rather work for themselves, and so there are uh My understanding is that there's a ton of new businesses that have been started over the last year, UM, and that trend will continue. UM. Also, a lot of restaurant workers are afraid of coming back because they're afraid they're only going to get one or two shifts, and so they're not willing to give up unemployment only to to to work, you know, one or

two shifts. Once we come back, fully many more people. Yeah, I I believe that's the point. You know, once it's clear that you know, the vast majority of us are vaccinated, there are some people who don't want to come back because they're worried about the COVID and that's understanding that they are they are that's going to change over the

next few months, I think, right. And I think the other important thing for people understand is there are a lot of women in the industry that their kids are home still and they can't go back to work because they're they're taking care of their children. You know, we're seeing all the tweets go out by the Republicans that did not vote for for the stimulus package, and yet they're sending tweets out saying, you know, if your restaurants

in my district, you know, go apply. We we got to this program and we want you to take advantage of it. And so that's all only good. And I've seen that a lot of people are going after them for taking credit. But I think now now they're on record of saying that they did this, they they're gonna have to plus this up. Let's I think they. I

think they paint themselves into a corner. And the big problem will not be getting votes on this proposal, but if it's on a must pass bill, because it's hard to do it alone, that they don't vote against the must pass bill, and they see I voted for this, but the must build. You gotta vote for both teams. You gotta get the you know, Fauci said something very smart. He said, just having the vaccines on the shelf does no good. You gotta getting people on. Just having the

money on the government shelves does no good. You gotta get it into the restaurant tours hands right. You know, I'm wondering, is this is this something where um this revitalization fund? Is this a fund that could be used for localized disasters where let's just say, like we saw the storm in Texas where these restaurants are forced to close for a period of time, that can be used specifically for for targeting disasters as well. Well, it's for

this year, yes, but later. But here's something else. Your governors, your state, your county leaders, mayors, all the local people got money. And one of the specific fick uses of the money is for disasters or particularly hard hit areas. Let's let's say you know the street your restaurant is on. The Restaurant Act will help your restaurant, but the street needs to be revitalized, or you need to do advertising. Come back to Elm Street. It's alive, it's happening. They

can use this money for that. So I would recommend people talk to their local officials because there's money in addition to encourage people to get back out to the restaurants. They could even advertise come to all the restaurants on main Street. These seven are open, right. Well, I listen, things are changing. When you were in the restaurant last week, it was pretty busy. Um, New York. Last month things

have been dramatically increased. And we love the Latta thank you what it meant and I forgot it's a thank you. So Lata is the town that my my father's family is from. That's what I uh. It's about forty five minutes northeast of Naples. It's an avellino um in Campanda. But there, as it was in your restaurant. You know, I've never been, my my brother's been. I've never been south of Rome, so I need I need to get there. But um, you've never been to Naples. No, no, no,

I've been. I've been to Sicily, but I've never been to Naples. Yeah. I've noticed that I'm going out to tables and everyone's seen. Everyone that's coming in seems to be vaccinated. Um, we've got great news. I think today that now children twelve to twelve to sixte get vaccinated, and right now in New York and most states, but certainly in New York, if you are now twelve or older, you can just line up and get the vaccine. You don't have to make an appointment. That a hundred questions

did you have diabetes? For sixteen and over? That's already done and now it will go to twelve. Well, Senator Suar, I just want to say thank you for joining us today. I know this was again a year long process, starting with a few phone calls the I r C was formed. Uh, luckily we had people like a Blue Ban who wrote the bill in the House and Senator Wicker in the Senate. But um, I have to say the heavy lifting done by you and your team because I know the conversations

that we had with with a lot of your team members. Um, I have a great Stan gets a lot of credit on John John does. I had some harsh words from one afternoon with him on a call and uh not not harsh, but you know we were we were, I mean I was starting to feel desperate. It was a day after we won Georgia and I was I was just like, okay, we have this now, let's just tell me what I want to hear. And he did. And again you kept your promise, and so did you. Tom.

A lot of done without I r C and you, so thank you, thank you, and we're a great team and we'll keep working for our restaurants. And I'll tell you one thing. You know, one of these great satisfactions and this is where you to public officials and you beings. I walked into a little restaurant, very small, in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, and the proprietor said to me, Without you, I would have closed. Thank you. Yeah. Well that's her, and that's the four or five people who work for her,

and that's the neighborhood. The feeling, there's no better feeling and satisfaction when you're ready to actually help somebody. Yeah, well, thanks, thanks for putting online and like they say, thanks for being in the arena. Um, I'd love to talk to you again some aside from food about what we're gonna do to keep the Senate and the strategy behind that, because I think it's gonna be fascinating. Um. I know that's it's so important to do that because we want

to keep what we have going. That's important to me too. All right, good talking to you again. Yeah, take my bye bye. Okay, thanks again to Senator Schumer for taking the time to talk to us today. And um, now I want to know what you're dreamy about once you get your vaccination. For me, uh, live music was it. Um. I can't wait to get to see a show. Obviously. For me, seeing a full restaurant is something. I'm looking forward to. A restaurant where that's noisy and bustling and

people seem just less trade, really looking forward to that. Also, keep in mind, yes, the money is going to restaurant urs to keep their doors open. But uh, you know when you think about where you go to celebrate a graduation, or you go on a first date, our anniversary or birthday, um a place to go relax in the wine with your friends and family, it's restaurants. You know. Restaurants are the cornerstones of our communities. Also because we're opening late

and lights around, we keep communities and neighborhoods safe. Often someone's first job is at a restaurant. If you are recently released from being incarcerated, restaurants will typically hire you. It's one place you can get a second chance. This in our industry is UH is here for so many reasons, and so this this is why this bill is important.

If you don't own a restaurant and you think that the funding should be there, um, you can make sure that you are part of the solution by calling your member of Congress and let them know how important the Restaurant Revitalization Act is and that you want to see it plused up so it can continue to help people. So please join us next week as we continue our conversation about the intersection of food and politics and policy.

This time we're looking beyond the pandemic to the many, many branches of the U. S d A with our guest, Kathleen Merrigan. Citizen Chef was executive produced by Christopher Haciotas and produced by Gariel Collins. Our researcher and writer is Lillian Holman and is always a very special thank you to a place at the table. Citizen Chef is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcast my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app. Apple podcasts are anywhere

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