TODAY—or tomorrow—CONGRESS may decide whether your small business survives. If you want your voice heard, you need to act now.
(Remember: I am doing a Facebook Live www.facebook.com/RhondaAbramsSmallBusiness at 1pm EDT/10am PDT every M–F.)
That is not an exaggeration. Huge stimulus bills will be voted on by the Senate and House of Representatives today or tomorrow, but certainly this week. You need to make sure they help small businesses like yours or the self-employed like you by raising your voice.
Copy and paste the below message, email it to your Senator/Congressperson, and SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, using the hashtag #MainStreetNotWallStreet. Find the contact information of your elected reps at www.usa.gov/elected-officials.
Small businesses need GRANTS, not just loans. Self-employed need to be covered under unemployment.
More fully, here’s the small business support I recommend:
1. Grants not just loans to small businesses with 100 employees or fewer and FAST.
2. Reimbursements to employers for paid sick/family leave come SOON, not just quarterly.
3. Payroll subsidies to small businesses to keep employees on payroll, not unemployment.
4. Self-employed get unemployment insurance.
5. Moratorium on commercial evictions.
6. Relief on commercial loan and business credit card payments and interest.
7. Delayed tax payments and no quarterlies for all of 2020 for businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
8. Delayed payment of utilities and no shut off of utilities of small businesses and consumers.
Here’s the analysis:
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have huge stimulus bills before them that they will vote on this week. Both have support for small businesses. Both have direct payments to most Americans ($1200 per adult in Senate; $1500 per adult in House).
The House Bill is more responsive to small business needs with grants as well as loans, unemployment for the self-insured, and more money overall for small business support of all kinds. The House Bill is MUCH bigger—$2.5 trillion vs. about $1 trillion—with much of that money going to support the medical community fight against the coronavirus and to ensure free testing and treatment.
Below are the highlights of the House Bill—“Responsibility for Workers and Families Act.” The provisions that most impact small business and the self-employed:
- Small Business Economic Injury Grants – Authorizes $100 billion in grants to small businesses that can demonstrate losses due to the outbreak.
- Small Business Disaster Loans – Authorizes additional $184 billion in low-interest economic injury disaster loans
- Small Business Payroll Support – Authorizes $300 billion in guaranteed, forgivable loans to cover short-term payroll costs.
- Small Business Debt Relief – Provides small businesses with relief from SBA loan payments, including principal, interest, and fees, for six months.
- Increasing Access to Capital – Eliminates fees and increases guarantees on SBA-backed loans.
- Authorizes $265 million for Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, and SCORE chapters to provide counseling and support to impacted entrepreneurs and small businesses. Authorizes $57 million for Microloan program technical assistance and lending. Authorizes additional resources for the Minority Business Development Agency.
- Paid sick leave for employees of companies of all sizes; up to 2 weeks at full pay up to $511 per day; Paid family leave for employees of companies of all sizes; up to 10-12 weeks at 2/3rds pay up to $200 per day. Businesses would be reimbursed by the government for this this paid sick or family leave
- Increases those on unemployment with an additional $600 per week.
- Self-employed individuals would be eligible for unemployment compensation up to about $675 per week ($600 federal unemployment plus one-quarter of their state’s unemployment pay)
- Unemployment insurance of $600 per week for non-profit employees.
- Suspension of residential evictions.
I did not have enough information on the revised Senate Bill to include at this time.
Please join me for my Facebook Live today at 1pm EDT/10am PDT, or watch the video later at www.facebook.com/RhondaAbramsSmallBusiness.
OK – right now, email, text, socialize the message you want support for the House Bill. Please!
Wishing you well – from Rhonda and the PlanningShop team
Copyright Rhonda Abrams, 2020