We at Fox & Moghul have been monitoring the government’s continuing efforts with respect to the coronavirus emergency stimulus bill. Last night, the Senate passed a bill that will aid large and small business, employees that are laid off, hospitals and state and local governments financial assistance through this coronavirus period. While the bill will still have to be passed by the House of Representatives and signed by the President, we have reason to quell many of the most serious fears that have arisen over the past few weeks.
SUMMARY
The bill authorizes emergency loans to distressed businesses, including air carriers, and suspends certain aviation excise taxes.
For Small Businesses
- establishes, and provides funding for, forgivable bridge loans; and
- provides additional funding for grants and technical assistance.
For Individuals
- $1,200 tax rebates to individuals, with additional $500 payments per qualifying child. The rebate begins phasing out when incomes exceed $75,000 (or $150,000 for joint filers).
For Employers
- limits requirements for employers to provide paid leave.
- With respect to taxes, the bill
- establishes special rules for certain tax-favored withdrawals from retirement plans;
- delays due dates for employer payroll taxes and estimated tax payments for corporations;
- increase the maximum unemployment benefit that a state gives to a person by $600 per week and according to Schumer, “ensures that laid-off workers, on average, will receive their full pay for four months.”
Education
- temporarily suspends payments for federal student loans; and
- revises provisions related to campus-based aid, supplemental educational-opportunity grants, federal work-study, subsidized loans, Pell grants, and foreign institutions.
- The bill also authorizes the Department of the Treasury to temporarily guarantee money-market funds.
You can read the full text of the bill here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3548/text?r=2
