Suddenly, hopes of securing more federal financial aid for restaurants are alive again in Congress.
The optimism has been stoked by the resumed efforts of two powerful senators, Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), to push through a replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RFF). That $28.6 billion kitty provided grants of up to $10 million for operators until it ran out of money within three weeks.
About a third of the applicants, or about 101,000 operations, managed to land a grant. About 278,000 additional applicants were left in limbo by the depletion of the fund…