EBC Congressional Letter

Sent April 4, 2022

We are writing today to urge your support for the amended version of H.R. 3807, The Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard-Hit Small Businesses Act of 2022. The Economic Bridge Coalition (EBC) www.economicbridgecoalition.org represents a broad-based coalition of small businesses that have been hard-hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. EBC members have worked for the past year to build support for additional funding for small businesses that were the first to close and the last to open due to mandatory shutdowns implemented by the federal, state, and local governments. Even now our businesses continue to suffer from intermittent cancellations of in-person events.

Many of these small businesses have been able to survive, but their balance sheets have been devastated. Buildings and other assets have been sold, homes have been mortgaged, and loans from private sources have been taken in order to keep the dreams of owning and operating a small business alive. Now, as the economy begins to fully reopen, small businesses are faced with a severe labor shortage that has thrown another roadblock in front of them as they struggle to recover. Funding for hard-hit small businesses contained in the amendments to H.R. 3807 will provide a much-needed steppingstone toward the recovery EBC-member companies have long sought. We urge your support of H.R. 3807 as amended.

Sincerely,

American Horse Council (AHC)

American Rental Association (ARA)

American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP)

American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA)

Custom Tailors and Designers Association (CTDA)

The Graphic Artist Guild

International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA)

International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE)

International Council of Air Shows (ICAS)

Live Events Coalition (LEC)

North American Nature Photography Association

National Press Photographers Association (NPPA)

National Ski Areas Association (NSAA)

Outdoor Amusement Business Association (OABA)

Professional Photographers Association (PPA)

Performance Racing Industry (PRI)

Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA)