By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A $2.2 trillion relief package passed by Congress should help both individuals and businesses survive during the economic downturn brought on by COVID-19.
Congressman Sam Graves says the bill will provide $1,200 per individual, plus $500 per child to the average household. It also will provide SBA-backed loans to businesses which will be forgiven if the business retains its employees at full salary and benefits.
“So, as long as they keep those employees on, they’re going to be able to see that loan forgiven,” Graves tells St. Joseph Post. “Also, 501(c)(3)s are going to be able to participate in this. It amounts to about eight weeks’ worth of cash flow for these small businesses.”
The bill also includes $100 billion to hospitals and health care providers and $16 billion to buy personal protective equipment and ventilators as well as other medical supplies.
Graves says the financial help to both individuals and businesses should help soften the economic blow of coronavirus.
“This pandemic is having an incredible impact on everyone’s life, not just folks that have gotten it and the physical harm that it does, but the financial harm that it’s doing as well,” Graves says. “You’ve got folks that are being forced to stay at home and they can’t get out and get to their work and so, it’s making it very tough for them to be able to make ends meet too when it comes to feeding their families, or paying the bills, or whatever the case may be.”
President Donald Trump, who had hoped to lift restrictions by Easter, has announced those restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 will stay in place through April.
Graves agrees with the decision, which he says is based on models which project substantially more deaths from the coronavirus if the nation doesn’t extend the call for social distancing.
“It’s theoretical at best. It’s a guess. It’s anybody’s guess, for that matter,” Graves says. “So, he’s listening to the experts and trying to draw conclusions from that, but if he extends it out there and then he has to come back and say, look, things are getting better now, so we can lift these restrictions, then he can do that. But I think we’re better safe than sorry.”
President Trump has told the nation’s governors that modeling on the coronavirus projected substantially more deaths if the nation did not incorporate social distancing. Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus task force coordinator, was also on the call Monday. She told governors it's “several weeks away from the peak of the curve for the United States.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, says the U.S. could see between 100,000 to 200,000 deaths from the pandemic.
Here is an outline of the provisions of the relief bill, called the CARES Act, compiled by U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt’s office:
- Provides direct assistance to individuals and families that need it most. Under the bill, a typical middle-class family of four would get $3,400 to help them meet their daily expenses;
- Includes emergency funds for food and nutrition programs so families can continue to get that help if they need it;
- Provides immediate assistance to child care providers to prevent them from going out of business and supports child care for families, including for healthcare workers, first responders, and others playing critical roles during this crisis;
- Provides cash-flow assistance to small businesses through federally-guaranteed loans, with certain expenses eligible for forgiveness if employers maintain their payrolls through this emergency;
- Creates a temporary pandemic unemployment assistance program to give assistance to workers who aren’t normally eligible for unemployment benefits, such as the self-employed or independent contractors;
- Ensures that testing and the eventual vaccine for coronavirus patients will be covered by private insurance;
- Includes $100 billion in support for hospitals and health care providers, and provides flexibility for them to receive both prospective payments and reimbursement for costs associated with coronavirus, including lost revenues;
- Gives health care providers more capabilities to offer telehealth services;
- Provides an additional $16 billion to procure personal protective equipment, ventilators, and other medical supplies for federal and state response efforts;
- Allows the Secretary of Education to defer student loan payments, enables students who were forced to drop out of school due to coronavirus to keep their Pell Grants, and gives colleges and universities the flexibility to continue work-study payments to students who cannot work due to coronavirus closures;
- Provides funding for elementary and secondary schools that can be released quickly to states to help schools respond to coronavirus and related school closures, including immediate needs of students and teachers, improving use of education technology, supporting distance education, and making up for lost learning time.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.