Government Affairs

Congress passed five bills through early summer to address the pandemic, with the biggest being the $2.2 trillion CARES Act (“COVID 3”), which initiated the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and was enacted on March 27.  Seven weeks later, House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) passed the House Democrats’ COVID 4 bill, the $3 trillion HEROES Act, but Senate Republicans weren’t biting…

For Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and congressional Republicans, the “COVID 4” bill that Congress and the White House hope to pass by early August must contain liability protection from frivolous lawsuits for businesses, medical workers, schools and other entities.  According to the Daily Mail, more than 770 COVID-based lawsuits had been filed by May 4 against…

From March through early June, Congress passed five bills to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic that became law.  In order of passage they are:  H.R. 6074, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (“COVID 1”); H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“COVID 2”); H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security…

Employee Retention Credit (Section 2301 of the Act):  Refundable payroll tax credit equal to 50% of up to $10,000 in wages per employee, including health benefits, if employer operations were fully/partially suspended due to a COVID-19 governmental shutdown, or if gross receipts declined more than 50% in a quarter compared to the same quarter in 2019.  Credit applies…

On April 19, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order based on National Emergency authority declared March 13 to give the Treasury Secretary the ability to defer payments of certain import duties, taxes and fees for 90 days.  This was followed by a Temporary Final Rule published April 20 by the DHS Customs and Border Patrol that states the 90-day deferral doesn’t…