Due to recent court rulings, the SBA will not be able to disburse Restaurant Revitalization Fund award at this time.
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund, enacted through the American Rescue Plan Act, prioritized applications from small businesses owned and controlled by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals for the first 21 days of the program. After SBA launched the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, three lawsuits were filed challenging the 21-day priority application period—one in the Eastern District of Tennessee and two in the Northern District of Texas. These lawsuits have led to three court rulings that preclude us from disbursing award funds to you. SBA’s leadership is frustrated with this outcome and remains committed to doing everything we can to support disadvantaged businesses getting the help they need to recover from this historic pandemic.
In the coming days, SBA’s portal system will reflect that SBA will not be able to disburse your award. Specifically, you will see the status of your application in SBA’s portal change to “fully canceled.” This status change reflects only that SBA is not able to disburse your award.
SBA will continue to maintain your processed Restaurant Revitalization Fund application in its place in the application queue based on your date of application. If Congress provides SBA with additional money for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, SBA will continue to process in the order received and fund applications as approved until the additional money is exhausted. You will not be required to submit a new Restaurant Revitalization Fund application.