(Atlantic) Iowa U.S. House District 3 Congresswoman Cindy Axne met with restaurant owners at a roundtable discussion at the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce Office on Wednesday afternoon. The Congresswoman listened to the concerns facing rural restaurant owner’s due to the impact of COVID-19, and other efforts to expand and improve restaurant owner’s experiences in southwest Iowa through Axne-led federal legislation.
The Congresswoman says she learned some of the pieces put in place at the federal level have created unintended consequences that have hurt some restaurant owners, particularly the stimulus money issued to individuals.
Axne also learned from service industry owners, without the passage of another round of COVID funding specifically for restaurant owners and hospitalities, the vast majority will lose their businesses.
Axne heard from one restaurant owner that the initial bill dealt directly with lost revenue and not on lost profit. Axne admits it’s an important distinction because most small businesses and particularly restaurants work on a very small profitability margin. She says when they craft a bill geared directly toward lost revenue then it’s not meeting the additional expenses restaurants and hospitalities incurred as the result of COVID.
She says HVAC systems had to be maintained to provide additional air-flow to keep their customers safe, or sanitization products to keep surfaces clean. She says all of these added expenses have affected their bottom line.
Congresswoman Axne is taking all of these concerns back to Washington and to see if they can get the restaurant act passed with all of these issues taken into perspective.
Axne is seeking a second term as Iowa 3rd District Congresswoman which includes the Des Moines Metro area and counties to the south and west of Interstate 80.
