Congressman Jim Himes Provides Federal COVID Relief Bill Update

Congressman Jim Himes' Office provided the First Selectwoman's Office with the following summary of programs for businesses and individuals contained in the current bi-partisan COVID-19 relief bill.  You can also watch Congressman Himes' discussion of the bill at this morning's meeting with members of the Western Connecticut Council of Governments on this link. 

Small Business Support

Paycheck Protection Program

• $284.5B in appropriations
• Set-asides for smaller borrowers/underserved communities:
• Small biz w/ less than 10 employees:
• $15B reserved for loans made by small community lenders (community banks/credit unions)
• $15B for CDFIs, MDI, microloan intermediaries
• Second draw for hard-hit businesses
• To qualify a firm must have 300 or fewer employees AND had revenue loss of at least 25% in any quarter of 2020 compared to that same quarter in 2019
• Second draw loans are limited to $2M
• 501(6)c non-profits without lobbyists (local chambers of commerce/tourism offices) with 150 or fewer employees are made newly eligible for PPP
• Forgivable expenses expanded to include:
• Software, cloud computing, and other HR/accounting needs
• PPE for workers
• Repairing damage due to public disturbances
• Expenditures to a supplier pursuant to a contract or purchase order in effect before taking out the loan that are essential to operations
• This is directly aimed at the issues restaurants have with PPP
• Loan forgiveness simplified for PPP loans of $150k or less
• Restaurants are able to take out loans equal to 3.5x average monthly payroll, instead of the normal 2.5x
• First draw PPP loans limited at $10M

PPP Background in CT

• 64,220 Connecticut businesses have already benefited from the Paycheck Protection Program

Grants for Shuttered Venue Operators

• $15B in appropriations
• $2B set aside for venues with 50 or fewer full-time employees
• The venue operators included under the bill include live venue operators or promoters, theatrical producers, live performing arts organization operators, museum operators, motion picture theatre operators, or talent representatives
• To be eligible, venue operators must:
• Prove a 25% loss in revenues in a quarter compared to the same quarter 2019
• Not be publicly traded or owned by a publicly traded parent, and
• The following three things can’t ALL be true: locations in more than one country, locations in more than 10 states, more than 500 full-time employees as of Feb. 29, 2020
• However, 2 of the 3 can be true
• SBA will award an initial grant of up to $10M, and a subsequent grant for 50% of the initial grant
• Grants are the lesser of 45% of 2019 revenues or $10M
• The total paid to a grantee cannot exceed $10M, e.g if the initial grant is $10M the venue does get a subsequent grant
• Grants to be used for payroll, rent, utilities, and PPE
• For the initial 14 days when the program is up and running, only venues with 90%+ revenue loss would be eligible, for the 14 days after that only venues with 70%+ revenue loss would be eligible. No more than 80% of the fund can be used for the first 28 days
• Operators who receive a grant under this program are not then eligible for a PPP loan (only applies after the bill is passed, so venues that got PPP loans in March are still able to access this funding)

Targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance Grants

• $20B for EIDL Advance Grants of $10k
• These EIDL Advance Grants are only for businesses located in low-income communities, which are communities with:
• A poverty rate of at least 20%
• Medium family income is 80% of less of the metro area median income
• Prior grantees who received less than $10k and are in low-income communities are able to receive another advance to get them to $10k total

Extension of SBA Program Modifications from CARES

• Continues program in which the SBA will pay principal, interest, and fees for certain 7(a), 504, and microloans taken out before the pandemic
• Increase guarantees and reduce fees on 7(a) loans

Unemployment

• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (gig workers) extended for 11 weeks
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (extended UI for non-gig workers) extended for 11 weeks
• Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation extended for 11 weeks at $300 -- this is the weekly unemployment insurance plus-up that's available to everyone making at least $1 on unemployment 
• The 11-week extension authorizes these programs thru March 14th
• Includes an extra $100 (on top of $300) for “mixed earners” -- workers who earned income from both W-2 and non-W2 jobs
• $1B to state departments of labor for technology modernization and fraud prevention

Unemployment Background in CT

• November 2020 CT Unemployment Rate: 8.2%
• November 2019 CT Unemployment Rate: 3.8%.

Economic Impact Payments

• $166 billion for direct Economic Impact Payments
• $600 per adult and $600 per dependent under the age of 17
• Eligibility is exactly the same as CARES:
• All single taxpayers with an adjusted gross income up to $75,000 filing single ($112,500 for heads of household and $150,000 for married filing jointly) receive the full benefit
• Benefit tapers off until it is completely eliminated for those making more than $99,000 filing single/$198,000 filing jointly at a rate of 5%.
• Requires a work-eligible social security number
• Unlike CARES, “mixed-status families” where one spouse is a citizen and the other isn’t are eligible for payments for each citizen in the family.
• The bill also makes this change retroactive to the CARES Act, allowing these mixed-status families to claim the original EIP on their 2020 return in 2021
• 2019 tax filings will be used for determining eligibility for the advance credit, however if a taxpayer’s income has decreased in 2020 they will be able to claim the difference between the advance credit and what they were owed when they file their 2020 taxes.
• For those who do not file taxes, the IRS will use information previously provided by the filer through the IRS’s non-filer portal for the first EIPshig, or information provided by the Social Security Administration, the Railroad Retirement Board, or the the Department of Veterans Affairs

Housing

• $25B in rental relief funding
• Eligible uses include rent, rental arrears, necessary utilities, and arrears of necessary utilities
• This will be funneled through a new program at Treasury (rental, rental areas, home energy costs (plus arrears))
• State and local agencies would intermediate
• Renters will apply for the assistance and the state agencies will send the payment directly to the landlord
• Landlords can also apply directly for assistance but will be required to notify the tenant that assistance is being provided on their behalf and obtain the tenant’s consent.
• Eligible households are defined as renters who:
• Have a household income not more than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI)
• have one or more household members who can demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; AND
• have one or more household members who qualify for unemployment benefits or experienced financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the pandemic
• Extension of eviction moratorium through January 2021

Education

• $82 billion in funding for colleges and schools, including support for HVAC repair and replacement to mitigate virus transmission and reopen classrooms
• $54.3 billion for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (Public K-12 schools)
• $22.7 billion for Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
• $20 billion distributed to all public and private non-profit institutions of higher education.
• $908 million to for-profit colleges to provide financial aid grants to students.
• Includes set-asides of an additional $1.7 billion for HBCUs, tribal colleges, and Minority-Serving Institutions and $113.5 million for institutions with the greatest unmet needs or those not served by the primary formula, such as independent graduate schools.
• $4.05 billion Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund, for governors to spend on education needs at their discretion
• Includes a $2.75 billion set aside for services to private K-12 schools to be administered by public agencies.
• $818.8 million for relief for outlying areas and the Bureau of Indian Education.

Nutrition Assistance

• $13 billion in nutrition assistance
• 15% percent increase in SNAP benefits for 6 months
• $400 million for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
• $175 for Meals on Wheels
• $4.6 billion to extend Pandemic EBT program (P-EBT) to child care facilities
• P-EBT allows schools to provide meals to children who qualify for free and reduced price lunch when schools are not doing in-person learning

Child Care

• $10 billion for child care assistance to help get parents back to work and keep child care providers open.These funds maintain the flexibility given to states through the CARES Act and can be used to provide child care assistance to families, and to help child care providers cover their increased operating costs during the pandemic.
• $250 million for Head Start providers.