ECONOMIC
RELIEF:
Interim
Emergency
Relief Package
On April 21 negotiators reached agreement on an $484 billion interim
relief package. H.R.266,
the
Paycheck
Protection
Program
and
Health
Care
Enhancement
Act,
provides $320 billion for
the Paycheck Protection Program, a provision of the CARES Act that was
quickly exhausted. The PPP is "an SBA loan that helps
businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus
(COVID-19) crisis." Meanwhile, on April 23 the U.S.
Department of Labor reported another 4.4 million people filed for
unemployment benefits in the week ending April 18, bringing the total
to 26 million in the five weeks since the crisis hit. President
Trump signed H.R. 266 into law on April 24.
https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program
Paycheck Protection Program
Who Can Apply
The following entities affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19) may be
eligible:
- Any small business concern that meets SBA’s size standards
(either the industry based sized standard or the alternative size
standard)
- Any business, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, 501(c)(19)
veterans organization, or Tribal business concern (sec. 31(b)(2)(C) of
the Small Business Act) with the greater of:
- 500 employees, or
- That meets the SBA industry size standard if more than 500
- Any business with a NAICS Code that begins with 72
(Accommodations and Food Services) that has more than one physical
location and employs less than 500 per location
- Sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed
persons
Loan Details and Forgiveness
The loan will be fully forgiven if the funds are used for payroll
costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high
subscription, at least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been used
for payroll). Loan payments will also be deferred for six months. No
collateral or personal guarantees are required. Neither the government
nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees.
Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring
employees and maintaining salary levels. Forgiveness will be reduced if
full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.
This loan has a maturity of 2 years and an interest rate of 1%.
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
issued the following statement today regarding an update on additional
funding for the Paycheck Protection Program portion of the CARES
Act:
“I am encouraged that Democratic leaders have finally agreed
to reopen the Paycheck Protection Program and abandon a number of
their unrelated demands.
“Republicans never wanted this crucial program for workers and small
businesses to shut down. We tried to pass additional funding a week
before it lapsed. But Democratic leaders blocked the money and spent
days trying to negotiate extraneous issues that were never on the
table. I am grateful our colleagues have walked away from those demands
and will finally let Congress act.
“This bipartisan agreement will provide more than
$320 billion in additional funding for the Paycheck
Protection Program, which is already helping millions of small-business
employees receive paychecks instead of pink slips. This is even more
money than Senate Republicans first requested. At our
request, there will now be a special focus on community banks and
credit unions. Thanks to the hard work of colleagues such as
Senator Collins and Senator Rubio, there will also be $60 billion
more for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and because of
the hard work of Senator Roberts, Senator Daines, and our other
colleagues from rural states, it will be clear that farmers and
ranchers are eligible.
“In the week-plus while our Democratic colleagues delayed the urgent
PPP funds, additional federal help for hospitals and healthcare
providers became urgent as well. Republicans have always supported more
medical funding as soon as necessary and I am proud this package will
provide roughly $75 billion more to fund hospitals and healthcare
providers in this crisis. Thanks to Chairman Alexander and Senator
Blunt, there is also an additional $25 billion for state-led COVID-19
testing plans and for research, development, and other testing support
from key agencies such as the CDC and the NIH.
“I welcome this bipartisan agreement and hope the Senate will quickly
pass it once members have reviewed the final text. I am just sorry
that it took my colleagues in Democratic leadership 12 days to
accept the inevitable, and that they shut down emergency support for
Main Street in a search for partisan ‘leverage’ that never
materialized. The American people are counting on Congress to put aside
reflexive partisanship and work across the aisle to help our nation
through this pandemic.”
###
Senate
Democratic
Leader
Chuck
Schumer
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi
April 21, 2020
Schumer, Pelosi Joint Statement On Agreement With Administration On
Interim Emergency Package
Washington, D.C. – Senate
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this
statement after an agreement was reached with the Administration on an
interim emergency relief package:
“Congressional Democrats are proud to have secured an agreement on an
interim emergency funding package that has been transformed to provide
real support for the lives and livelihoods of the American people.
“Democrats flipped this emergency package from an insufficient
Republican plan that left behind hospitals and health and frontline
workers and did nothing to aid the survival of the most vulnerable
small businesses on Main Street. We have achieved an agreement
that follows the path set by the bipartisan CARES Act by strengthening
the Paycheck Protection Program, expanding small business support
beyond PPP by increasing funding for emergency disaster loans and
grants, and providing an additional $100 billion for hospitals,
providers and testing in a way that addresses the health needs of the
American people:
- For small businesses: we have strengthened the
Paycheck
Protection Program with $310 billion in additional funding, with $30
billion reserved for community-based lenders, small banks and credit
unions and $30 billion for mid-sized banks and credit unions. We
are expanding small business support beyond PPP by securing $50 billion
for SBA emergency disaster lending, translating into more than $350
billion in loans, and $10 billion in SBA emergency disaster grants.
We have also secured strong protections to ensure that our
nation’s farmers have access to this vital assistance.
- For hospitals, health systems and health care and
frontline workers: Democrats secured $75 billion to provide resources
to the frontlines, including Personal Protective Equipment. The
Administration has also agreed to key improvements to be made in CARES
2, including significantly lowering the interest rate on advance
payments, lengthening the repayment schedule and distributing payments
from general revenues not the Hospital Insurance Fund.
- For all Americans: we have secured $25 billion for
testing, which is the key to reopening the economy and resuming our
lives. The Administration has agreed to a national strategic
testing policy that will focus on increasing domestic testing capacity
including testing supplies.
“Democrats are disappointed that the Administration has not agreed to
more funding for state, tribal, and local governments on the front
lines of this crisis who desperately need an infusion of funds to pay
the essential workers who keep us safe. However, we are pleased
that the President has committed to addressing this critical priority
in CARES 2 and will work with urgency to see that this commitment is
fulfilled. Our lives and well-being are threatened if our health
care, police, fire, EMS, transportation, teachers and other vital
workers do not have the support that they need, and we will hold the
Administration accountable to their promise.
“It is unfortunate that Republicans’ refusal to negotiate in a
bipartisan way delayed agreement on this legislation. Now,
Congress will move swiftly to bring this legislation to the Floor and
pass it this week, so that we can bring desperately-needed resources to
those who are suffering.
“As soon as it has passed in the House, we will advance CARES 2, which
must be transformative and far-reaching. CARES 2 must recognize
that the key to getting Americans back to work and ensuring economic
security is putting the health and safety of the American people first
and defeating this terrible virus.
###
Letter
from local government organizations
April 16, 2020
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader, Unites States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker, United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Charles Schumer
Democratic Leader, United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Republican Leader, United States House of
Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer and Leader
McCarthy:
On behalf of the National League of Cities (NLC), the National
Association of Counties (NACo), and The United
States Conference of Mayors (USCM), thank you for your tireless efforts
to support local governments and the
extraordinary measures that local leaders are enacting to protect
households and residents from the ill effects
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our associations strongly support efforts to include $250 billion in
robust, dedicated, and flexible funding for all
local governments in any interim emergency coronavirus package
currently being negotiated. Local
governments at the county and municipal level are fighting this
pandemic as partners to provide unique and
non-duplicative services to protect public health and economic
stability, despite significant losses of revenue as
a result of public health measures requiring a pause on most economic
activity.
Local elected officials are working on the front lines of the emergency
response. County governments are
responsible for emergency operations centers, human services, jail
management, 911 services, coroners, and
medical examiners. Counties also operate nearly 1,000 public hospitals,
1,900 local public health departments,
more than 800 long-term care facilities and 750 behavioral health
departments. Municipal governments are
responding daily to the crisis with our first responders (fire, EMS,
and police), coordinating regionally with one
another across jurisdictional lines, enacting difficult and fiscally
challenging emergency measures to slow the
coronavirus epidemic, passing ordinances to limit the worst economic
outcomes for residents and small
businesses on the margins, and spending such sums as necessary to
protect public health and the economy in
this extraordinary time.
An USCM/NLC survey of more than 2,100 local officials shows that nearly
100% of communities with
populations above 50,000 will see a revenue decline this year, and more
than half report that revenue declines
will impact core functions including police hiring and retention, and
public safety.
At the local level, the battle to contain COVID-19 is crisis-management
beyond anything in recent memory.
Both counties and cities are expending an unprecedented amount of
resources while losing historic amounts of
revenue. And for most communities, the peak of the pandemic has yet to
be reached. All local governments, regardless of population, urgently
need direct federal funding to help us continue to fight COVID-19 and
protect our residents through the summer and beyond.
For us to continue to protect our communities and save lives, we
propose that ALL of America’s cities and
counties be allocated at least $250 billion in dedicated funding in a
way that takes into account each level of
governments’ role in responding to the pandemic. This will allow
America’s hardest hit communities to deal
with the enormous challenges we are facing while fairly distributing
relief to all local governments.
The relief that we desperately need also needs to be flexible. We
strongly urge that funding provided in the
interim package allow for local governments to make up for lost
revenue, and further that there be language in
the interim package clarifying that CARES Act funding can be used for
the same purpose.
Local governments and our elected mayors, county officials, and council
members thank you for your swift
action during this truly unique moment in American history. As partners
working hand-in-hand both within our
communities and also with the federal government and states, we are
ready to continue to ensure that
America emerges from this pandemic stronger than we were before.
Sincerely,
Clarence E. Anthony
CEO and Executive Director
National League of Cities
Matt Chase
CEO and Executive Director
National Association of Counties
Tom Cochran
CEO Executive Director
The United States Conference of Mayors
Cc: President Donald J. Trump