- For companies that have been in business for a year: The average monthly payroll for the preceding 12 months multiplied by 2.5 plus any pre-existing emergency loan; for companies that were not in business before the period February 15, 2019 – June 30, 2019: The average monthly payroll for the period January 1, 2020 through February 29, 2020 multiplied by 2.5;
- $10,000,000.00.
- The loan proceeds may only be used for payroll, group health benefits, salary and employee commissions, interest on mortgages, rent, utilities, and interest on debt incurred before February 15, 2020.
- Interest rates cannot exceed four percent.
- Delegates authority to lenders to make determinations on borrower eligibility and creditworthiness without going through standard SBA’s channels.
- New lenders are invited to join the program and will be provided the same authorities as existing lenders.
- Requirements will be amended to determine eligibility based upon COVID-19 funding limitations, not repayment ability.
- Limits a borrower from receiving this assistance and an economic injury disaster loan through SBA for the same purpose, with limited exceptions.
- Waives collateral and personal guarantee requirements under SBA 7(a)program.
- Increases the maximum loan for an SBA Express loan from $350,000 to $1 million through December 31, 2020, after which point the Express loan will have a maximum of $500,000.
- Borrower shall be eligible for loan forgiveness equal to the amount spent by the borrower during an 8-week period after the origination date of the loan on payroll costs, interest payment on any mortgage, and select other expenses impacted by COVID-19.
- Amounts that can be forgiven include payroll costs up to $100,000, plus payment of interest on any covered mortgage obligation plus any payment on any covered rent obligation and any covered utility payment.
- The amount forgiven will be reduced proportionally by a reduction of employees according to a specific formula and encourages employers to rehire any employees who have already been laid off due to the COVID-19 crisis without penalty.
- The Act requires the Senate to Administer guidance to lenders and agents to ensure that the processing and disbursement of covered loans prioritizes small business concerns and entities in underserved and rural markets, including veterans and members of the military community, small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
- The final bill dropped language from previous Senate versions of the bill that would have provided payment and performance relief to small and non-profit government contractors and otherwise protected their contracts from cancellation or re-solicitation.”
XIII. Department of Transportation
- $25 billion for transit infrastructure to remain available until expended, to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. Funds will be apportioned by the same ratio of FY 2020 appropriations through these Federal Transit Administration (FTA) formula programs:
- $13.9 billion for Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula Program Grants
- $1.8 billion Section 5311 Formula Grants for Rural Areas
- $7.6 billion for Section 5337 State of Good Repair
- $1.7 billion for Section 5340 Fast Growth-High Density Grants
- FTA must apportion these funds within seven days of the date of bill enactment.
- Funding is “available for the operating expenses of transit agencies related to the response to a coronavirus public health emergency”… “beginning on January 20, 2020, reimbursement for operating costs to maintain service and lost revenue due to the coronavirus public health emergency, including the purchase of personal protective equipment, and paying the administrative leave of operations personnel due to reductions in service.”
- The operating expenses are not required to be included in a transportation improvement program (TIP), long-range transportation and statewide transportation plans, or a statewide transportation improvement program (STIP).
- At the option of the grant recipient, federal share can be up to 100 percent.
- The final bill includes $10 billion from the federal general fund to remain available until expended for airports to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.
- $500 million to fund the local share (matching requirements) of fiscal year 2020 AIP grants with any remainder moved to the $7.4 billion pot below
- $7.4 billion for commercial service airports to be used for any lawful purpose, which means any activity airports can legally use funds now
- 50% set aside for distribution based on each sponsor’s calendar 2018 enplanements as a percentage of total 2018 enplanements
- 50% set aside for distribution based on an equal combination of each sponsor’s fiscal year 2018 debt service as a percentage of the combined debt service for all commercial service airports and each sponsor’s ratio of unrestricted reserves to their respective debt service
- 100% federal share (no local match)
- $2 billion for distribution through AIP entitlement formula to be used for any lawful purpose with the following criteria:
- Use double entitlement formula;
- Eliminate maximum apportionment for largest airports;
- Maintain minimum apportionment for small airports ($1 million or $600k);
- Eliminate any turnback for large and medium hubs with $4.50 PFC;
- Any remainder after the formula run is moved to the $7.4 billion pot above;
- 100% federal share (no local match)
- $100 million for general aviation airports with the following criteria:
- Distributed based on proportional needs as determined by NPIAS;
- 100% federal share (no local match);
- Large, medium, and small hub airports must maintain 90 percent of workforce (after making adjustments for retirements or voluntary employee separations) through end of 2020, with hardship waivers from DOT possible for economic hardship or reductions in aviation safety or security;
- 0.1 percent is set aside for FAA administration of these funds.
XIV. Department of Treasury (USDT)
- Payments to Individuals – U.S. residents with adjusted gross income up to $75,000 ($150,000 married), who are not a dependent of another taxpayer and have a work eligible social security number, are eligible for the full $1,200 ($2,400 married) rebate. In addition, they are eligible for an additional $500 per child. This is true even for those who have no income, as well as those whose income comes entirely from non-taxable means-tested benefit programs, such as SSI benefits.
- For most individuals, no action will be required in order to receive a rebate check as IRS will use a taxpayer’s 2019 tax return if filed, or in the alternative their 2018 return. This includes many low-income individuals who file a tax return in order to take advantage of the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. The rebate amount is reduced by $5 for each $100 that a taxpayer’s income exceeds the phase-out threshold. The amount is completely phased-out for single filers with incomes exceeding $99,000, $146,500 for head of household filers with one child, and $198,000 for joint filers with no children.
- The bill allocates $500 billion to the Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF),
an emergency reserve fund that provides the Treasury Secretary with the authority to distribute emergency funding to assist companies of all sizes. Of this amount, the provides for a $454 billion “Economic Stabilization Fund” that permits the US Treasury to “purchase obligations (of States, local governments, instrumentalities and political subdivisions of them) or other interests in secondary markets or otherwise” thus permitting the Federal Reserve to participate as an institutional investor in securities that mature greater than 6 months. This fund also provides loans and loan guarantees to small businesses.
XV. Tax Provisions
- Final bill did not include a fix to allow state and local employers from benefiting from payroll tax credits available to private employers.
XVI. Unemployment Insurance
- Creates a temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program beginning January 27, 2020 through December 31, 2020, to provide payment to those not traditionally eligible for unemployment benefits (self-employed, independent contractors, seeking part-time employment, gig economy workers, those with limited work history, and others) who are unable to work as a direct result of the coronavirus public health emergency.
- A covered individual is one who is not eligible for regular compensation or extended benefits under state or federal law, and self-certifies that he or she is otherwise able to work but is unable to do so for reasons related to the impacts of COVID-19 on the individual, the individual’s family, the individual’s place of work, movement restrictions, and more.
- Provides payment to states to reimburse nonprofits, government agencies, and Indian tribes for half of the costs they incur through December 31, 2020 to pay unemployment benefits.
- Provides an additional $600 per week payment to each recipient of unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance recipient for up to four months.
- Provides funding to pay the cost of the first week of unemployment benefits through December 31, 2020 for states that choose to pay recipients as soon as they become unemployed instead of waiting one week before the individual is eligible to receive unemployment benefits.
- Provides an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits through December 31, 2020 to help those who remain unemployed after weeks of state unemployment are no longer available.
- Provides funding to support “short-time compensation” programs, where employers reduce employee’s hours instead of laying off workers and the employees with reduced hours receive a pro- rated unemployment benefit. This provision would pay 100 percent of the costs they incur in providing short-time compensation through December 31, 2020.
- Temporarily eliminates the 7-day waiting period for railroad unemployment insurance benefits through December 31, 2020 (to make this program consistent with the change made for states through the same period in an earlier section of this title).
- Gives the Secretary of Labor the ability to issue operating instructions or other guidance as necessary in order to implement this subtitle, as well as allows the Department of Labor to waive Paperwork Reduction Act requirements, speeding up their ability to gather necessary information from states.
XVII. Arts
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) – Adds an additional $75 million in grants available until September 30, 2021. 40 percent will be distributed to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations and 60 percent will be direct grants.
- National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) – Adds an additional $75 million in grants available until September 30, 2021. 40 percent will be distributed to state humanities councils and 60 percent will be direct grants.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services (ILMS) – Adds an additional $50 million in grants available until September 30, 2021 to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including grants to expand digital network access, purchase internet accessible devices, and provide technical support services.
