All Regions in Mitigation, Join Our Campaign, BIG Grants for Companies with Under $20M in Revenue
Monday, November 2, 2020
The Illinois Restaurant Association continues to engage with local, state, and federal officials to help our employers and employees address concerns about COVID-19. Please see the below resources and information for your business - updated as of 7:30 p.m. on Monday, November 2. *** IRA Files Amicus Brief, 10,000+ Voices Added to Campaign to Save Restaurants 
Last Friday, the IRA hosted a press conference with industry operators and workers to discuss the disastrous impact of Governor Pritzker’s mitigation plan and to announce the IRA's legal actions in the fight to save Illinois’ restaurant industry. Click here to watch a recording of the event. On October 30, the IRA and the National Restaurant Law Center filed an amicus brief supporting the industry and Fox Fire Tavern, a restaurant that successfully challenged the Governor’s authority to issue a new order shut down restaurants. (Fox Fire Tavern LLC v. Gov. Jay Robert Pritzker - Ill. 2d. App. Dist.) The brief highlights the importance of the industry in Illinois and why it is absolutely critical to allow restaurants to continue safely serving guests indoors. A summary of the arguments: The restaurant industry's top priority is to provide a healthy environment for guests and employees. The industry has done everything asked AND MORE, spending millions to adapt their businesses to keep diners and workers safe. A blanket ban on indoor dining, esp. when restaurants are already struggling to survive, is the wrong approach. Without government aid, the impact will be severe, ultimately impacting 120,000 jobs – and quite possibly more – statewide. Existing data and statistics, which are inconsistent and unreliable, do not support unfairly targeting restaurants and mandating that all restaurants again shut down. The Legislature gave the Governor emergency powers “for a period not to exceed 30 days,” 20 ILCS 3305/7, but he has now exercised that authority for more than 225 days. The Legislature did not authorize the Governor to issue successive emergency orders based on the same disaster, or issue a new order if some facts changed. The Court cannot provide the Governor that authority now. The Governor’s orders are invalid as to all similarly situated restaurants across the state, which should all benefit from a decision without having to take independent legal action.
Click here to read the summary. Click here to read the full amicus brief. Media Coverage from Announcement Broadcast The IRA received more than 170 mentions or larger features, reaching 25,964,636 listeners statewide. Click here to read the broadcast report from the announcement. Traditional News/Digital The IRA was included in 65 articles, reaching an estimated 109,907,968 readers. Click here to read the traditional new/digital report from the announcement.
Meeting with Governor Pritzker This morning, the IRA met with Governor Pritzker and senior members of his administration to urge the state to implement pragmatic regulations that will allow restaurants to stay open for indoor service. We will continue to communicate with the Governor and his team in the coming weeks and advocate for reasonable regulations that will allow restaurants to keep their doors open. Join the Campaign You can further bolster our campaign to protect restaurants by joining the 10,000+ people that have urged the state to change its mitigation plan to allow for continued indoor service at restaurants. All 11 Regions Closed for Indoor Service at Restaurants - North-Central Moves into Mitigation 
Yesterday, Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced COVID-19 resurgence mitigations will be implemented in Region 2 - North-Central Illinois - beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4. With the final addition of Region 2, now all 11 regions have triggered one of the state's mitigation metrics. By tomorrow, Regions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 will all operate under Tier 1 mitigation measures, given that these regions continue to report a 7-day rolling positivity rate above 8%. Regions 10 and 11 are operating under Tier 1 mitigations after triggering additional mitigations based on sustained increases in both positivity and hospitalization rates. Region 1 continues to operate under Tier 2 mitigation measures after seeing a rise in positivity even under the Tier 1 mitigation framework, with the highest rolling positivity average in the state. Click here to read the full announcement. City of Chicago Emergency Preparedness, Business Operations Center This evening, the IRA joined a security briefing with Mayor Lightfoot and her team to review the city's ongoing 10-day preparedness and safety plan for Election Day. To supplement on-the-ground public safety resources, CPD has increased its patrol beyond its regular deployments. As part of this effort to further ensure the City can rapidly respond to all situations, CPD has cancelled days off Department-wide for Election Day, and for select citywide teams during the week of the election. Additionally, the City is deploying 60-300 infrastructure assets that are strategically positioned by OEMC to support and protect neighborhood commercial corridors and critical businesses in the event of potential public safety incidents. Businesses should note: Business owners should have their security teams front and center, do exterior checks and look for debris that may be able to be used as projectiles. Report suspicious activity or fliers. Never assume the city and police have all the information. No street closures are planned at this time or plan for bridges to be raised, other than Wabash bridge, near Trump Tower. There are no plans for restricted access at this time. The Retail Corridor Deployment Protection Program is in place throughout the city to protect retail corridors. No transportation shut downs at this time. CPD will be nimble to adjust to protests. CPD is monitoring intelligence on planned protests, and expect them to be peaceful. CPD does not recommend that businesses board up, but that is an individual business decision. Proud Boys fliers are up and CPD is investigating, and policing all polling places. CPD is not advising anyone close early. Outdoor furniture needs to be secured. Bring inside or secure with cables. Businesses can sign up for text alerts emergency alerts here. OEMC is also reminding residents that they can also receive emergency alerts for updates on street closures and public transportation by subscribing to Chicago’s text or email alert system at NotifyChicago.org or follow the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) on Facebook and Twitter @ChicagoOEMC.
Starting today, the city of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) has launched a Business Operation Center (BOC), a physical facility created for the private sector partners to exchange real-time information and provide situational awareness during public safety or public health issues. A first-of-its-kind effort, the BOC is designed to expand the communication and operational components by utilizing businesses and key subject-matter experts with the ability to contact security onsite and distribute accurate information. The BOC will be in operation from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily over the next several days at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Contact Matt Quinn if you are interested in staffing the IRA/restaurant industry station at the Business Operations Center. Click here to read more. State of Illinois Business Interruption Grants Available 
A $220 million second round of state of Illinois Business Interruption Grants (BIG) aims to provide relief for all types of small businesses, but with a particular focus on businesses downstate, in disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs), and for heavily impacted industry and regions – representing businesses that have been unable to reopen or operating at a severely diminished capacity since the spring. Eligible applicants: Must be an independently owned and operated for-profit corporation or limited liability corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship authorized to conduct business in the State of Illinois; OR a 501c3, 501c6, or 501c19 nonprofit; Must have been operating for at least three months prior to March 2020. Must have had less than $20 million in gross operating revenue in calendar year 2019, or a prorated amount if in operation for less than a year prior to March 2020. Must have experienced net operating losses since March 21, 2020. Must have been closed or had reduced operations due to government orders, public health guidelines, or depressed consumer demand during the COVID 19 pandemic. Must follow other eligibility requirements.
DCEO has begun issuing awards to more businesses in Round 2 – with over $46 million expended to over 1,200 businesses in the current round. To view a list of current Round 2 awards made, click here. Click here to learn more and apply today.
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