Government Affairs Committee
I’m sure most everyone has been following the news reports related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It came down relatively hard and fast forcing us to make changes locally, as country and to the rest of the world. Life as we formally knew it will probably never be the same. We are all faced with the impacts that this pandemic has caused, and we continue to adapt to those changes as it evolves.
CARES ACT
On Friday, March 27th, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic (CARES) ACT into law. This massive $2 trillion relief package is intended to speed relief across the American economy that will benefit individuals and small businesses. The relief package breaks down into the following groups:
- Education/Misc – $43.7 billion (est.)
- Individuals – $560 billion (est.)
- Public Health – $153.5 billion
- Big Corporations – $500 billion
- State/Local Gov. – $339.8 billion
- Small Business – $377 billion
- Safety net – $26 billion
Some of the highlights:
In the individual’s group
Most individuals earning less than $75,000 can expect a one-time cash payment of $1,200. Married couples would each receive a check and families would get $500 per child. That means a family of four earning less than $150,000 can expect $3,400. The checks start to phase down after that and disappear completely for people making more than $99,000 and couples making more than $198,000.
In addition to the one time cash payments, those qualifying for unemployment would receive an additional $600 per week from the federal government on top of whatever base amount a worker receives from the state. That boosted payment will last for four months.
Small Businesses Group
The main features for small businesses are emergency grants and a forgivable loan program for companies with 500 or fewer employees. There are also changes to rules for expenses and deductions meant to make it easier for companies to keep employees on the payroll and stay open in the near-term.
Emergency grants: The bill provides $10 billion for grants of up to $10,000 to provide emergency funds for small businesses to cover immediate operating costs.
Forgivable loans: There is $350 billion allocated for the Small Business Administration to provide loans of up to $10 million per business. This Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan would be used to maintain payroll, keep workers on the books or pay for rent, mortgage and existing debt could be forgiven, provided workers stay employed through the end of June. Conditions do apply.
Relief for existing loans: There is $17 billion to cover six months of payments for small businesses already using SBA loans.
Governor Scott’s Executive Orders
On March 13th, Governor Scott declared a State of Emergency in response to COVID-19 and also issued a Call-Out to the National Guard. Since that date, there has been (9) Amendments, and (5) Directives to the Executive Order. The most recent Amendment 9, released 4/10/20, included the extension of the “Stay Home/Stay Safe” order to May 15th.
The complete listing with details of all the Executive Orders, Amendments and Directives can be found at the following address:
https://governor.vermont.gov/document-types/executive-orders
Other ASHRAE Government Affairs Updates can be found at the following website:
https://www.magnetmail.net/Actions/email_web_version.cfm?publish=newsletter&user_id=ASHRAE&message_id=18368163
I wish all our Members, your families and friends good health as we continue our fight with the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Dick Wilcox
GAC Committee Chair