COVID-19 Relief Info

COVID-19 Relief

Information

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

S.3548 -The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or the “CARES Act” intends to provide emergency assistance and health care response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

H.R.6201 - Families First Coronavirus Response Act responds to the COVID-19 outbreak by providing paid sick leave, tax credits, and free COVID-19 testing; expanding food assistance and unemployment benefits; and increasing Medicaid funding.

JNCL-NCLIS is committed to advocating for federal aid relief for the Language Enterprise. Stay up-to-date on the latest developments.

Small Business

SBA Website

Paycheck Protection Program

The Paycheck Protection Program prioritizes millions of Americans employed by small businesses by authorizing up to $349 billion toward job retention and certain other expenses.

Small businesses and eligible nonprofit organizations, Veterans organizations, and Tribal businesses described in the Small Business Act, as well as individuals who are self-employed or are independent contractors, are eligible if they also meet program size standards.

Under this program:

Eligible recipients may qualify for a loan up to $10 million determined by 8 weeks of prior average payroll plus an additional 25% of that amount.
Loan payments will be deferred for six months.
If you maintain your workforce, SBA will forgive the portion of the loan proceeds that are used to cover the first 8 weeks of payroll and certain other expenses following loan origination.

Click here to learn more.

Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Loan Advance

To apply for a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan, click here.

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, small business owners in all U.S. states, Washington D.C., and territories are eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of up to $10,000.

The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million that can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. The loan advance will provide economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. Funds will be made available within three days of a successful application, and this loan advance will not have to be repaid.

Non-Profit

ASAE Website

501(c) and 501(c)(3)

Last week, Congress passed the CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion bill that provides extraordinary relief for individuals, small businesses, corporations, hospitals, state and local governments and 501(c)(3) nonprofit groups, but does little to assist trade and professional associations experiencing severe revenue losses during the current crisis. Many associations have had to cancel large meetings, trade shows and other in-person events due to the pandemic, and others are experiencing the same operational shortfalls that have befallen large and small businesses in recent weeks.

The ASAE sign-on letter points out the few options afforded to 501(c)(6) and other associations in the CARES Act. Just two provisions in the CARES Act apply for 501(c)(6) associations: an employee retention payroll tax credit available to businesses that have seen at least 50 percent reduction in revenue in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2019, among other qualifying conditions; and emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) grants that can be used for payroll costs, rent or mortgage payments, or repaying obligations that cannot be met because of revenue losses.

Language Industry Indpendent Contractors

CoPTIC Website

Displaced Independent Professionals (California)

The $2.2 trillion relief measure passed by the Senate Wednesday and by the House Friday includes independent professionals in various forms of relief measures, some for the first time. CoPTIC advocates throughout California educated federal lawmakers and staff about the fact that we are predominantly self-employed and NOT employees, so relief policies intended for ALL working Americans must not cut us off.

Relief components include:

Displaced independent professionals NEWLY INCLUDED in eligibility for state unemployment insurance, including a new $600 weekly supplement through July 31 with an additional 13 weeks of benefits added.
Stimulus payments to individuals of up to $1,200 include self-employed people.

Earlier steps in state and federal relief policy that respect independent language professionals:

Small businesses throughout California eligible for disaster grants or loans.
Statewide moratorium on tenant evictions through May 31 and waiver on mortgage penalties and foreclosures through mid-June.
California extended enrollment for health coverage in 2020, amid the COVID-19 threat, for all eligible Californians in all plans on its exchange of health plans under the Affordable Care Act until June 30.

New Legislation, SB 900, Protects Language Access and Practicing Interpreters and Translators in State

HIGHLIGHTS of SB 900:

SB 900 provides a set of conditions, including credentials, whereby practicing interpreters and translators can continue to operate and serve Californians.
SB 900 protects access to essential language service by Californians, including people with disabilities or with limited English proficiency, crucial to every aspect of daily life in our diverse state.
SB 900 prevents cutoff of highly trained professionals, led by women- and immigrant-run small businesses, who are backbones of a growing, $2 billion sector of the California economy.

The Coalition of Practicing Translators and Interpreters of California (CoPTIC) expresses tentative support for this legislation. We will continue to work with lawmakers to secure amendments and solutions that respect the indispensable contributions of language professionals to the people and communities we serve and to California’s economy.

View the document

ATA Website

Major Provisions of CARES Act of Interest to ATA Members

The tax credits should apply to most of our individual members; top earners, or those with significant other income, not so much.
The social security tax deferrals will help all members a bit.
The unemployment provisions will help anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or who has had to care for a stricken family member.
The student loan deferrals will help members with such loans.
The loans will help company owners, including single-person companies who pay themselves a salary, and independent contractors.
There is also the option for an employer, including an owner/employee, to pay up to $5,250 in 2020 on an employee’s student loan, with the payment being tax-free to the employee and the total payment going to principal.

Education

MPI Website

English Learners

This memo briefly outlines key concerns about COVID-19-related school closures for English Learners (ELs) and their families. It was compiled in response to an inquiry from a U.S. Senate staff member to the Migration Policy Institute’s (MPI) National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. The question regarded what concerns EL administrators have about EL and immigrant-background students—particularly related to the use of online learning—and potential resource needs in the mid- to long-term that might be addressed in future congressional spending bills.

NEH Website

At-Risk Humanities Positions and Projects

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will receive $75 million in supplemental funding to assist cultural institutions affected by the coronavirus as part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act economic stabilization plan appropriated by the U.S. Congress and signed into law today by President Donald J. Trump.

“Our federal agency will work around the clock to ensure that these vital funds immediately reach large and small cultural organizations, as well as educators, curators, scholars, filmmakers, and other humanists,” said NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. “Telecommuting from more than 150 residences,” said Chairman Peede, “the NEH staff are committed to doing their part to help sustain the $878-billion arts and cultural economic sector, which accounts for 4.5 percent of our nation's gross domestic product (GDP).”

As detailed in the Supplemental Funding FAQ on the NEH website, this emergency funding will support at-risk humanities positions and projects at museums, libraries and archives, historic sites, colleges and universities, and other cultural nonprofits that have been financially impacted by the coronavirus. Anchoring the domestic creative economy, museums and historic sites are reporting losses of $1 billion a month as education programs, exhibitions, festivals, and other events have been canceled.