Fresno businesses seek proof for COVID restrictions. A senator wants $2.6 billion for them

Fresno restaurant and small businesses have been severely impacted by California’s latest round of COVID-19 restrictions, which includes a stay-home order for Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley.

The new mandates, which come during the bustling holiday season, were made in an effort to help alleviate the burden on hospital ICU capacity. But were they made without clear evidence or localized data?

“It’s a slap in the face to businesses owners and their families,” said Nathan Ahle, president of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.

During a news conference Friday, the chamber called for the state to offer a “fact-based, data-driven and consistent approach” to pandemic restrictions, including the closure of businesses. Barring that, they want the governor to ease restrictions that would allow small business to reopen.

That makes for a big economic impact. Fresno restaurants produced more sales tax revenue than any other sector in 2019, said Chuck Van Fleet, head of the Fresno chapter of the California Restaurant Association.

The industry also offers more first-time job opportunities and more opportunities for women and people of color, he said.

And the holiday season is crucial.

If the current restrictions stand, Fresno could lose 20% to 30% of its restaurants by the end of the year, Van Fleet said. Already, many restaurants have had to lay off or furlough 40% to 50% of their staff.

“We deserve proof, or we deserve to be open,” Van Fleet said.

Local, data-driven and consistent

While the governor’s administration prides itself on being data-driven, the state has been unable to produce data showing the connection between COVID spread and the various business sectors, said state Sen. Andreas Borgeas. In the nine months since the pandemic began, only one county (Los Angeles) has aggregated that kind of data, he said.

And it shows that 3.1% of COVID spread come from restaurants even as they face some of greatest restrictions, Borgeas said. Of course, the state has said its current restrictions on restaurants are not meant to stop the spread of the disease, but to keep people at home, Borgeas said.

“Businesses were told to close their doors and hold on for a few weeks,” he said.

“We can’t wait until the end of the pandemic any longer.”

What is Senate Bill 74?

To that point, Borgeas has proposed Senate Bill 74, which would invest $2.6 billion in grants to small businesses (those with under 100 employees) affected by the pandemic. Called the California Working Act, it represents 10% of the state’s projected surplus and includes an urgency clause so it can take effect as soon as it is approved.

The support would come as the federal government continues its battle over a new round of pandemic relief.

“We. Need. Help. Now,” said state Assemblyman Jim Patterson, also at Friday’s news conference.

He called the state’s reopening policies a “vortex of indecision” and said small businesses have been dictated to throughout the pandemic. They are capable of remaining open safely, he said, and if the state cannot support its businesses right now, “their message to us that they care rings very hollow.”

“We can beat this virus,” Patterson said. “But it will be a hollow victory if what we have after is an economy that is a small-business wasteland.”

This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 1:56 PM.