Congress passed and the President has signed into law a new COVID assistance package.  A summary is below.  We will provide additional updates as soon as program guidelines are issued.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been extended until March 31, 2021.

Tax issues were addressed:

• Gross income does not include any forgivable amount of the PPP loan

Forgiveness simplified:

• Loans less than $150,000 require simple certification in the form of a one-page letter from the borrower to the lender stipulating that basic criteria were met

Eligible uses formally expanded:

• Operations (software, tech, human resources, etc.), supplier costs (supplies, inventory, etc.), plus health and safety expenses (PPE, testing, etc.) were further clarified as eligible uses of PPP loans and eligible for forgiveness
• Benefits such as life insurance, disability insurance, vision and dental were also clarified to be eligible covered expenses

Borrower may select their covered period end date, between 8 and 24 weeks after origination

$284.45 billion has been appropriated for the new round of PPP funding:

• $35 billion is set aside for first-time borrowers
• $25 billion is set aside for smaller organizations with 10 employees or less or loans less than $250,000 in low-income areas

Establishes 2nd Draw criteria:

• Max loan amount of $2 million
• For organizations with less than 300 employees
• Must have used or will use the full amount of first PPP loan
• Must show at least a 25% reduction in revenue in the first, second, or third quarter of 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019; applications submitted on or after January 1, 2021, may use a fourth quarter 2020/2019 comparison
• 60/40 cost allocation between payroll and non-payroll costs to receive full forgiveness remains the same for 2nd Draw

In addition to new PPP funding, other programs receiving funding include:

Unemployment Insurance

• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is extended until March 14, 2021, and the maximum number of weeks of eligibility is extended from 39 weeks to 50 weeks
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) is extended until March 14, 2021 and the number of weeks of eligibility is extended from 13 weeks to 24 weeks
• Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) is reinstated at $300 per week from the week after December 26, 2020 and runs through March 14, 2021

Stimulus Payments

• $600 to individuals earning $75,000 or less per year and plus an additional $600 for every dependent child; decreasing amounts for those earning $75,001 or more at a rate of -$5 for every $100 over the earning limit

Housing

• $25 billion for rental assistance
• Eviction moratorium extended to January 31, 2021

Transportation

• $2 billion for aid to airports, including airport retail
• $10 billion for highways for states to replace lost revenues that would support maintenance, operations, personnel, etc.
• $14 billion for mass transit operations

Click here for a Small Business Committee Summary by the U.S. House of Representatives

Click here for a Fact Sheet by the National Restaurant Association

Click here for a Q&A for Small Business Owners from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

If we can be of assistance, please email us.

See earlier COVID-19 updates at www.schenectadymetroplex.org.