Downriver Today

Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber of Commerce issued the following announcement on Dec. 22.

Congressional leaders and the Trump Administration reached an agreement for a 4th pandemic relief bill of $900 billion, providing an additional $284 billion in funds to the U.S. Small Business Administration for a second PPP loan available for the “hardest-hit” small businesses. The Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber will provide program details when they are made available.

Details of the bill:

Stimulus checks: A second round of direct payments to Americans. The payments will be up to $600 per adult and per child.

Unemployment benefits: Two expiring CARES Act programs, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which made benefits available to the self-employed and gig economy workers, and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which provided additional weeks of benefits, were extended for 11 weeks. That timeline will set another key deadline to stop the programs from expiring in early March. In addition, Congress will add $300 to all weekly unemployment benefits. Workers who rely on multiple jobs and have lost income will also be eligible for a weekly $100 boost as well.

Support for small businesses: The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provided distressed small businesses with forgivable loans to keep them afloat and leave employees on the books, receives a 2nd round of funding of $284 billion. Businesses that already received a PPP loan will be eligible to get a second one under the new terms. Some of the PPP funds will be set aside for the smallest businesses and community-based lenders. The bill also provides $20 billion in Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) grants for smaller businesses.

The deal provides $9 billion in emergency Treasury capital investments for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions, financial institutions that largely cater to minorities, as well as an additional $3 billion for CDFIs through a Treasury fund.

Relief for entertainment industry: Additionally, it includes $15 billion in grants dedicated to live venues.

Housing assistance: The bill extends the eviction moratorium that is set to expire at the end of the year through the end of January. The legislation includes $25 billion for rental assistance to families facing eviction. Eligible renters would be able to receive assistance with rent and utility payments, and bills that have accumulated since the start of the pandemic, by applying with entities that state and local grantees chose to administer the program. Additionally, the bill includes an enhancement of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit to increase the supply for affordable housing construction.

Education: The bill includes several provisions relating to elementary, secondary and higher education. It would provide $82 billion of funds for schools and colleges to help them reopen classrooms and prevent virus transmission. It also includes an expansion of Pell Grants. A summary from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that the expansion would allow 500,000 people to become new recipients of the grants and 1.5 million students to get the maximum benefit.

Testing: The agreement includes $20 billion for the purchase of vaccines, $8 billion for vaccine distribution, $20 billion for states to conduct testing and $20 billion in extra federal relief for health care providers.

Federal Reserve: The deal will return Fed authority to what it was under Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act before the pandemic struck. Specifically, new language will close four Fed lending facilities: the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility, the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility, the Main Street Lending Program and the Municipal Credit Facility.

Unspent funding for those programs under the CARES Act will be repurposed.

Nutrition Assistance: The deal directs $13 billion to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), and to child nutrition benefits to pay for a 15 percent increase in SNAP benefits.

Transportation: $45 billion for transportation, including $16 billion for another round of support for airlines, airline employees and contractors, $14 billion for transit systems, $10 billion for highways, $2 billion for intercity buses, $2 billion for airports and $1 billion for Amtrak.

Surprise medical bills: The legislation includes provisions to end the practice of surprise medical billing. It would hold patients harmless from surprise bills, including from air ambulance providers and prohibit out-of-network providers from “balance billing” unless they give patients 72-hour notice of their network status and an estimate of the charges.

Tax provisions: The bill would allow taxpayers to use their 2019 income for purposes of claiming the earned income tax credit and child tax credit, two credits that benefit low- and middle-income households. This will allow households where people lost jobs or income in 2020 to be eligible for credits or receive larger credits, because the credit amounts phase in with income.

The bill boosts the tax deductibility of business meals for two years.

The provision would also extend and enhance the employee retention tax credit, a payroll tax credit aimed at encouraging businesses to hold on to their workers.

The Bill does not include federal liability protections for employers, nor relief for state and local government.

Original source can be found here.

Source: Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber of Commerce