SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2020 | 7A
Coronavirus Stimulus Guide
How the $2 trillion CARES Act will assist local residents, businesses
The CARES Act
• $250 billion to make unemployment insur-
ance available to more categories of workers
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weeks from the 26 weeks typical in most
states. It would also provide an extra $600
a week for four months.
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holds.
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with the amount spent on payroll, rent or
utilities converting into grants that don’t
have to be repaid.
• $500 billion for loans, loan guarantees
or other aid to businesses, states and mu-
nicipalities—including the possibility that
the government will take direct equity stakes
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billion is set aside for cargo and passenger
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deemed critical to national security, such as
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to backstop losses in lending facilities estab-
lished or expanded by the Federal Reserve.
Households and Workers
Individual
checks
The CARES Act pro-
vides for direct payments
of $1,200 to adults and
$500 per child to Ameri-
can households, structured
as tax refunds to allow the
Internal Revenue Service
to distribute the funds
quickly.
There is no provision
for future direct payments
in the event the economic
disruption lasts into the
later spring. The direct
grants are phased out for
upper income brackets,
starting with $75,000 of
individual income.
The grants aren’t avail-
able at all, for example,
for individuals without
children making more
than $99,000 and married
couples without chil-
dren making more than
$198,000.
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be extended to contract
workers, freelancers and
other nontraditional work-
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some states. The aim is
to replace lost wages as
completely as possible.
workers, including in-
dependent contractors,
freelancers and other non-
traditional workers who
are unemployed, partially
unemployed or unable
to work because of CO-
VID-19.
It includes a $600-a-
week increase on top of
Freelancers
Unemployed
current levels of unem-
The CARES Act ex- ployment benefits for
workers
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The CARES Act would grants to independent contractors also can apply
extend the duration of job- contractors, such as Uber for the $10 billion set aside
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from 26 available in most editors, that normally go economic injury disaster
states, and includes a only to employees or small loan—funds, which are
$600-a-week increase for businesses. For example, normally available only
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the bonus payment avail- EHQH¿WVWRVHOIHPSOR\HG small businesses.
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senger air carriers, cargo air carriers and
contractors.
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according to population size. A municipality
could apply to receive aid directly, reducing
the amount available to the rest of the state.
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businesses, including allowing businesses to
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and Social Security, for the rest of the year.
It would also temporarily allow businesses to
claim deductions using today’s losses against
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infusions.
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and veterans’ care. It also includes $25 bil-
lion mostly for public transit to make up for
revenue lost because of dwindling ridership.
Personal Financing and Taxes
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A c c o r d i n g t o t h e to borrowers who say they
CARES Act, the law en- have been harmed by the
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for bankruptcy don’t have vicers are prohibited from
to use stimulus checks initiating foreclosure and
to repay past debt, and processing foreclosure-
it extends the time that related evictions for 60
bankrupt people have to days beginning March 18.
repay a portion of their debt Owners of multifamily
as a condition to getting properties can request a
a fresh start. The current forbearance of up to 90
repayment time limit is days, during which ten-
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the repayment time frame nonpayment of rent or
other fees.
to seven years.
Bankruptcy
Credit reports
Under the CARES Act,
consumers who fall behind
on their debt payments
won’t necessarily take a hit
on their credit reports. The
bill requires lenders that
allow struggling consum-
ers to defer or skip loan
payments to report the bor-
rowers as current on their
payments, even if they are
not. Most consumers who
were behind on their debts
before the coronavirus
crisis will continue to be
reported as delinquent.
Mortgages
The CARES Act re-
quires companies that
service federally backed
mortgages to grant a for-
Retirement
According to the
CARES Act, the law tem-
porarily loosens the rules
on hardship distributions
from retirement accounts,
giving people affected by
the crisis access to up to
$100,000 of their retire-
ment savings without a 10
percent penalty. The law
doubles the amount 401(k)
participants can take in
loans from an account for
the next six months to the
lower of $100,000 or 100
percent of the account bal-
ance. (IRAs don’t permit
loans.)
For retirees, the law
suspends for 2020 the man-
datory distributions the
government requires most
tions toward their workers’
student-loan payments.
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2017 tax law that curbed
their depreciation deduc-
Taxes
tions on renovations.
Under the CARES Act,
Employers would be
Student loans people who don’t itemize able to defer paying their
Per the CARES Act, their deductions would be share of 2020 payroll taxes.
the law would allow most DEOHWRFODLPXSWRIRU They could then make half
Americans with federal stu- charitable contributions. of those payments in 2021
dent loans to suspend their Businesses get the ability and the other half in 2022.
monthly payments through to apply losses from 2018, In addition, the bill creates
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interest accruing. It would SUR¿WVDQGFODLPUHIXQGV ing employees that’s aimed
also enable employers to Restaurants and retailers at companies that are too
make tax-exempt contribu- would benefit from the ODUJH WR EHQH¿W IURP WKH
to take from tax-deferred
401(k)s and individual re-
tirement accounts starting
at either age 70½ or age 72.
Please join the chamber and the business community for this virtual Resource Round
Up! Presenting Lynn Meyer – Director of Community Lending Works, Robert Killen -
Lane SBDC Director and Jenna Cusimano - Lane County Community & Economic
Development Management Analyst. This powerful panel will be moderated by Russ
Pierson, Dean, LCC Florence Center.
We will be discussing funding options both traditional and non-traditional, government
programs and resources and business development resources to not only survive but
to thrive through this crisis.
April 9th at 2pm via ZOOM. FREE and open to the public.
The link to join will be under the events tab on FlorenceChamber.com.
small-business assistanc
elsewhere in the bill.
Those employers woul
be able to get a tax cred
equal to 50 percent o
payroll. That is limited t
$10,000 per employee pe
quarter, and for employ
ers with more than 10
employees, it is availabl
only to those companie
and nonprofits that ha
their businesses limite
or closed by governmen
actions.