Restaurant operators sound off to lawmakers about latest restrictions
Chuck Moran, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association, is wearing a different hat these days.
Mr. Moran said he essentially acts as a counselor, consoling owners and operators of small restaurants and taverns across the state for hours a day. The restaurateurs fear they will lose their businesses and their livelihoods as a result of restrictions placed on them to try to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I had one member that I was so concerned about that I referred to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline,” Mr. Moran said. “That’s how serious some of them are. They’re really desperate.”
Gov. Tom Wolf recently announced he was rolling back indoor dining statewide from 50% capacity to 25%, closed nightclubs and limited bars that don’t serve food to only offer to-go drinks as COVID-19 cases have risen in certain parts of Pennsylvania and are surging in other states.
Restaurant, tavern and bar owners testified at Tuesday’s House Majority Policy Committee that the restrictions placed on them during the pandemic are crippling — and the latest rollback could push some over the edge to permanent closures.
A survey from the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association conducted in May found that 91% of Pennsylvania restaurant operators have laid off or furloughed employees since the pandemic’s emergence in March. The average reduction was 84% of the facility’s total staff.
“As if COVID only lives on bar countertops,” said Mick Owens, a restaurant owner in Lancaster County, who complained about the targeted mandates impacting the restaurant industry.
Almost half a million Pennsylvanians work in the restaurant industry, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry.
Riki Tanaka, a restaurant owner in McKean County, was one such employer who had to furlough his staff. He called it the “worst day of my life” — and was forced to give away food to his staff because there weren’t enough customers to sell off the food before it would spoil.
He also criticized the statewide nature of the mandates from state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine because the case numbers in rural counties like McKean are different from those in Philadelphia or Allegheny counties.
None of the restaurant owners said, when asked, that they have seen clear evidence from Dr. Levine about why the reduced capacity is necessary to combat the health risk. Dr. Levine was invited to attend the hearing but submitted written testimony instead.
“I fully recognize the need to balance measures that reduce the spread of COVID-19 across the commonwealth with the economic and social impacts of statewide mitigation efforts,” Dr. Levine wrote. “It is vitally important to stop the worrisome trends in increased case counts in Pennsylvania, lest the virus have the devastating impacts we see in other states.”
But she also said previously she wouldn’t be releasing “granular” data to support the new rollback.
“If there was any real evidence that 25% versus 50% impacted safety when proper social distancing and face-masking is enforced, that would be different,” said John Longstreet, the president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association.
Wolf spokeswoman Lyndsay Kensinger said the new restrictions are necessary at a statewide level and not just county-bycounty, citing one bar that was
listed as a point of exposure for individuals in at least four counties.
She said the Legislature is calling on Congress to pass the Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive (RESTAURANTS) Act. The $120 billion bill would provide restaurants with grants to help cover payroll, benefits, mortgage, rent, protective equipment and other costs.
“The number of people getting COVID-19 from isolated, identifiable outbreaks, such as those in long-term care facilities, is decreasing, and more people are contracting COVID-19 from being out and about in their community, such as when visiting restaurants and bars,” Ms. Kensinger said.
Some Democratic lawmakers — six at last count — have recently joined their Republican counterparts in supporting relaxing the restrictions on restaurants. Democrats from Allegheny, Lawrence, Mercer and Erie counties issued news releases stating that they want Mr. Wolf to restore the 50% capacity guidelines.
Sens. Jim Brewster, DMcKeesport, and Pam Iovino, D-Mt. Lebanon, announced a proposed $100 million relief package for restaurants and taverns. House Bill 2615 offers a similar proposal.
“We just need help from you guys,” said Jim DeLisio, the owner of Racehorse Tavern in York County. “We need money.”
Some owners have found it’s just not financially worth it to open their establishments while earning such reduced revenue — and as operational costs increase.
“We are spending money needlessly to follow guidelines that are always changing, and we are spending thousands of dollars on food that people aren’t even eating,” Mr. DeLisio said.
The restrictions on restaurants have impacts downstream, since the “supply chain is enormous,” said Rui Lucas, a restaurant owner in Montgomery County. He said restaurants rely on farmers and work with marketing agencies, cleaning crews and more.
One restaurant owner suggested the governor should respond to the uptick in COVID-19 cases in some of Pennsylvania’s counties the same way the state approaches car safety.
“You tell people to wear seat belts. You don’t tell them you can only have two people in a car,” said Mr. Owens, the Lancaster County restaurant owner. “No percentages. Barriers and spacing.”