During this crisis, I’ll provide a daily briefing of news relating to small businesses and the self-employed, with particular emphasis on financial assistance available and government actions.
And every day, I’ll hold a Facebook Live get-together at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific at www.facebook.com/RhondaAbramsSmallBusiness. Please join me with your questions, advice.
Here’s the news as of 9pm EDT 3/17:
- PAID SICK LEAVE – Good news here! As I wrote yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would provide paid sick leave and family leave for employees of companies with fewer than 500 employees. The government would pay the businesses for this sick leave and family leave. Today, Senate leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate would go ahead and approve that bill as is and send to the President for signing. This also provides relief for independent contractors and gig workers who get paid by another company. For more info on the details of that legislation, check my email from yesterday or go to my blog at www.PlanningShop.com/blog
- $750 BILLION-$1 TRILLION STIMULUS BILL. A BIG BIG bill to try and shore up the American economy is coming. Republicans in the Senate are preparing a package – expected to be worth around $1 trillion while Democrats are working on a package of around $750 million. No details yet, but small business aid could be from $50 billion-$250 billion, and might include loans, grants, tax breaks. To put the dollar figure in perspective—keep in mind the airline industry is seeking around a $60 billion bailout, and that industry employs around 700k people, while small businesses employ almost 6 million Americans.
- CASH GRANTS FOR EVERY AMERICAN. There now appears to be serious bipartisan agreement for sending cash grants to every American and soon. This does not yet have a specific piece of legislation, so details are not known. Senator Mitt Romney suggested a payment of $1000 per person (likely to be lower per child), and this number seems to be getting some traction in Washington. This would also likely be phased out for higher income earners (which might be between $75k-$100k). Treasury Steven Mnuchin says he’d like these checks out in the next two weeks, but it is unlikely that that is possible—even if legislation is passed quickly.
- INCOME TAX PAYMENT DEFERRALS. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that both individuals and corporations could defer income tax payments for 90 days. I will look for more details. This would be a big help for those paying either quarterly taxes or taxes due in April (unless the filing date is delayed—which I suspect may happen).
- FACEBOOK GRANTS. As I mentioned in yesterday’s email, Facebook has announced they will be providing $100 million in cash grants or advertising to small businesses. For more information go to www.facebook.com/grantsforbusiness
- KIVA LOANS. The nonprofit organization Kiva provides 0% interest loans to small businesses worldwide. They are expanding eligibility and the amount of loans provided during this crisis. For more information, go to https://www.kiva.org/blog/support-local-businesses-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic
More resources tomorrow! And please let me know of any resources so I can share with the small business community.
I and the PlanningShop team are committed to helping small businesses and the self-employed survive and thrive, so we will do our best to keep you informed with honest, trustworthy information. Feel free to invite others to receive my Daily Updates (sign up at www.PlanningShop.com) and join my daily Facebook Live update.
Stay strong and stay well!
Copyright Rhonda Abrams, 2020
