12 Mar American Rescue Plan – Key Provisions Impacting Businesses

This week, President Biden signed the $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan. This is the third major stimulus package passed by the Federal Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been much discussion about relief to individuals including a new round of $1400 stimulus checks & unemployment benefit extensions as well as increased funding for vaccine purchase & distribution, this blog post will focus on the relief programs impacting businesses including the creation of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, expansions and changes to the PPP & EIDL loan programs, and expansions and changes to the Employee Retention Tax Credit Program. The full text of the law can be found here.

Restaurant Revitalization Fund

Edit: An updated post specific to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund & how to prepare for an application can be found here.

• Restaurants, bars, & other elligible entities will be elligible to apply for a grant equal to 2019 revenue minus 2020 revenue minus PPP loans already received.
  • Businesses that opened in 2019 will determine their amount of grant eligibility by multiplying their average monthly gross revenue in 2019 by 12.
  • Businesses that opened in 2020 that experienced operating losses will be elligible for a grant under a similar formula that covers losses incurred.
  • Businesses that have not yet opened but that have already incurred payroll costs will be elligible for a grant that covers those expenses.
  • *Note: Formulas for determining grant eligibility for all three above categories may be modified via SBA guidance.