NASBP Focal Point - August 13, 2020

Six state legislatures and U.S. Congress are currently in session: CA, DC, Federal, MA, MI, NE, and NJ.

Territories: Guam and the Virgin Islands.

*Click here for a complete 2020 calendar of the state’s original legislative session dates.

In This Issue

Federal Report

Presidential Election
COVID Stimulus/Presidential Memos
SBA/PPP Updates

Federal Report:

Presidential Election, COVID Stimulus/President Memos, and SBA/PPP Resources

Presidential Election

The big news this week is that Democratic Presidential Nominee, Joe Biden, selected California Senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate. Senator Harris, the former state’s attorney general ran for her party’s presidential nomination but dropped out earlier this year. The Democrats will host their national party convention next week, while the Republicans will host their convention the following week. Because of the pandemic, neither conventions will include its customary celebration.

COVID Stimulus

On capitol hill, talks have stalled between the four key architects (Speaker Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Schumer, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows) who are charged with brokering a virus-relief stimulus package. There is a chance that this stalemate could last for weeks and perhaps continue into September when Congress will be forced to reach a compromise to fund the government when the new fiscal year begins on October 1. The White House insists that Democrats must reduce its demands for aid directed to state and local governments and for $600 a week in unemployment benefits in order to resume negotiations. Democrats counter that the White House must agree to $1 trillion in spending beyond the $1 trillion that they currently support.

Presidential Memos

Last week the President issued a Memorandum calling for the deferment of payroll tax obligations in light of the ongoing COVID-19 disaster, and a Memorandum for $400 a week in “lost wages assistance” in addition to state unemployment benefits. The President’s memo requires the federal government to fund $300 a week by reallocating disaster relief funds while encouraging the states to fund the remaining extra $100 out of their own budgets. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell remains adamant that any COVID relief stimulus bill must include liability protection for businesses, schools and colleges. The Leader is concerned that without liability protection a surge of lawsuits would negatively impact the potential for an economic recovery.

SBA/PPP Updates

On Saturday at midnight, the U.S. Treasury stopped accepting new PPP loan applications. Since its inception on April 3, more than 5.2 million loans totaling $525 billion were approved where the average loan amount was $101,000, according to an SBA report. Unused funds of $134 billion will be returned to the Treasury unless Congress votes to re-appropriate those funds. Earlier this week, the Small Business Administration updated its frequently asked questions relating to the Paycheck Protection Program with guidance that payment or nonpayment of agent fees do not affect the SBA guarantee, and that vision and dental insurance costs are eligible payroll costs. The loan forgiveness FAQs are also updated to cover the deduction of Economic Injury Disaster Loans advances from forgiveness amounts. Additional guidance and resources for small businesses are available on the U.S. Treasury’s CARES site.

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Focal Point is an e-bulletin sent to members and friends of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers when most state legislatures are in session and as needed thereafter. To obtain copies of Bills or other materials discussed above, contact advocacy@nasbp.org. Copyright © 2020. NASBP. All rights reserved.