UPDATED: "We've Been Let Down by Governor," Says Head of Group of RI Restaurant Owners

UPDATED: "We've Been Let Down by Governor," Says Head of Group of RI Restaurant Owners

David Levesque, the owner of the Brewed Awakening chain and leader of a large group of Rhode Island restaurants, has alleged that Governor Dan McKee is refusing to support the group’s legislation that would push workers off unemployment and back to work.

“We worked hard trying to get this bill passed so we could get people off unemployment. The Governor is not going to support our bill, he made this very clear,” Levesque wrote in an email to approximately 30 restaurant owners.

“The Governor has walked away from us in my opinion, so I’m walking away from him,” wrote Levesque.

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The restaurant group has been negotiating for weeks with the McKee administration.

“Yesterday I had a call with Matt Weldon, DLT director, he pointed out that the bill included part-time workers, and this was a problem. I agreed to pull it out. He then wanted to cap to $39,000,000 so only 10,000 people could sign up, I loved the idea and believed it would put a sense of urgency into the workforce that is sitting idle on unemployment and get them to move quickly to sign up. I expressed that he had to push and let the Governor know that he believed in the bill and its potential value,” said Levesque.

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As GoLocal reported earlier on Thursday, a new study showed RI is ranked one of the worst in job recovery. Restaurant owners claim that the unemployment benefits are so high that workers are incented not to work.

South Carolina is joining Montana in ending federal pandemic unemployment benefits for its residents next month. "Incentives matter, and the vast expansion of federal unemployment benefits is now doing more harm than good," Gov. Greg Gianforte of Montana said. "We need to incentivize Montanans to reenter the workforce."

“I asked Matt do you think the numbers we ran on this bill are good and the revenue generated can pay back the bill cost in under 9 months and he said yes, so there is no reason for Matt or the Governor not to support it.  We left off with a pretty good compromise. I felt he may become weak-kneed, so I sent a message to the Governor stating how we had made progress and that there was room to support both bills,” said Levesque.

"Today I followed up with several emails to Matt before the press conference, reviewing our compromise and expressing that we are still waiting for the Governor to support our bill as well. Well today when asked, the Governor pressed his hand to his head, lowering his head down, basically shutting a reporter down and said we are supporting another bill that they believe will help. So, he has shut this bill down and therefore it will not be going anywhere,” added Levesque.

GoLocal reached out to the McKee administration for comment and they did not respond with comment.

Levesque ended the email to the other business owners with the following.

“I do not know where to go from here, truly. I believe that this is only the beginning of our struggles and it will not be improving anytime soon. The only option that I could possibly see working is to form some type of formal group. I wish everyone the best in the upcoming months.”

This story was updated on 5/7/21 at 6:09 AM