What’s the RRF Replenishment Act?
by David Klemt
The ENTREE Act isn’t the only bill seeking to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. In fact, a bipartisan bill predates the ENTREE Act by a month.
So, what’s the difference between that bill and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021?
Let’s take a look.
Additional Funding
Clearly, the biggest similarity between the two bills is the amount of money both are after.
Both the RRF Replenishment Act and ENTREE Act seek $60 billion.
As people familiar with the RRF will recall, the fund launched with $28.6 billion. Obviously, that was nowhere near enough funding to meet the demand for grants.
The RRF Replenishment Act was introduced in June by the same bipartisan group that first introduced the RRF. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-PA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced the bill on June 3.
Per a press release, nearly $50 billion in grant applications were left outstanding. The RRF application portal was closed just 21 days after launching.
$60 Billion
The biggest difference between the RRF Replenishment and ENTREE acts? Sourcing the $60 billion to replenish the RRF.
Per the text of the bill, the ENTREE Act would use unspent funds from the American Rescue Plan and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
As for the RRF Replenishment Act, the funding would essentially come from “printing” an additional $60 billion.
Clearly, Americans will have differing opinions when it comes how the RRF is funded. However, using unspent, previously allocated funds does seem like a more logical approach.
So far, there’s no word on how these two bills may impact one another. There’s no news about the bills working in conjunction, just as there’s no news yet about a preference for one over the other.
With all eyes on the Senate and the progress of the infrastructure bill, we’re still awaiting answers on the RRF Replenishment and ENTREE acts.