Independent restaurants getting economic relief they desperately sought FREE NEWSLETTERS March 9, 2021 On Saturday, as many Americans were enjoying a weekend, Tom Colicchio was on a Zoom call with about 30 members of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. They were watching the Senate vote on the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the $1.9 trillion package to provide economic relief for millions of businesses and individuals, including the ailing restaurant industry. Shortly after noon, senators passed the bill along party lines, all but ensuring that once the U.S. House votes on the Senate-amended rescue plan, which it is poised to do Wednesday, independent restaurant operators will see some targeted relief money, to the tune of $28.6 billion. For the Independent Restaurant Coalition, or IRC, which formed as the pandemic was just sinking its teeth into the American economy, the vote capped a grueling, year-long effort to seek direct grants for a hospitality industry that in the past 12 months has shed 2 million jobs, lost an estimated $240 billion in revenue and seen 110,000 establishments close.