California restaurants say 30% to close without state aid

Michael R. Blood

The Associated Press

As many as 30,000 California restaurants could close permanently because of coronavirus restrictions that have shuttered dining rooms and led to widespread layoffs, the industry warned Friday, March 27, while urging the state to delay tax payments and planned minimum-wage increases to help the ailing businesses.

In a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom obtained by The Associated Press, the California Restaurant Association said the trade-off for protective public health measures that have limited restaurants to takeout and delivery “has been a near decimation of o...