8A | SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Businesses and Industries
Airlines
Under the CARES Act,
for passenger airlines, the
bill includes $25 billion in
direct funding for worker
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well as up to $25 billion
in loans and loan guaran-
tees. The bill hews to what
airlines had been asking
for. Carriers had lobbied
aggressively for direct
grants rather than just
loans, warning that with-
out an immediate infusion
of cash, they would have
to make sharp job cuts.
The bill also includes
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to keep paying contract
workers that provide air-
line catering, baggage
loading, ticketing and
check-in, and other ser-
vices at airports. Cargo
airlines will be eligible to
receive $4 billion in loans
and guarantees, and $4 bil-
lion in payroll assistance.
In exchange for the
payroll grants, carriers
must agree not to fur-
lough, lay off or cut pay
for employees until Sept.
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on companies agreeing not
to buy back shares or pay
dividends, and to limits on
executive compensation.
The package also allows
the Transportation Depart-
ment to direct airlines to
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based on their schedules
on March 1, before carriers
had instituted the deepest
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would include services to
rural communities and to
support delivery of health-
care-related cargo.
Banks
The CARES Act delays
implementation of a new
accounting rule that would
have required banks to
sock away reserves for any
estimated loan losses all at
once, instead of spreading
them out over the life of
the loan. The Act gives the
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the currency the authority
to allow banks to make
loans that would typically
trip up size restrictions.
Smaller community banks
with less than $10 billion
in assets get more lending
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maximum leverage ratio
and more wiggle room
if they exceed it. Banks
will also get more leeway
on how they account for
troubled consumer loans,
allowing them to work
with struggling borrowers
who have fallen behind on
their payments.
Energy
The CARES Act con-
tains no major provisions
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energy industry. Belea-
guered U.S. oil produc-
ers had sought a range
of remedies, including
preferential tax treatment,
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billion purchase of oil
by the federal govern-
ment for the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve. The
renewable energy industry
had sought extensions to
tax provisions that would
have helped wind-and-
solar developers secure
valuable tax credits even
if there were construction
delays.
Farmers
The CARES Act directs
more than $48 billion to
agriculture and nutrition
programs, helping cushion
the blow for producers
reeling from the latest in
a string of hits to the U.S.
farm economy, as prices
sank for corn, soybeans,
wheat and cattle. The law
designates $14 billion
to replenish the Com-
modity Credit Corp., a
Depression-era program
designed to stabilize farm
incomes, and $9.5 billion
to support producers of
specialty crops, livestock
and dairy, as well as
those who supply farmers
markets, restaurants and
schools.
Health
industry
The CARES Act adds
$27 billion to an emer-
gency fund that could give
a boost to dozens of proj-
ects by pharmaceutical
companies and academic
groups developing drugs
and vaccines against coro-
navirus. The emergency
fund received a smaller
amount of funding under
a coronavirus response act
signed earlier in March.
There is no COVID-19
vaccine, but dozens are in
development. The pack-
age allows the government
to take steps to ensure that
products developed with
the emergency funding
will be “affordable in the
commercial market,” but
that these steps shouldn’t
delay development of the
products.
The bill also includes
provisions to increase
reporting of potential
shortages from drug man-
ufacturers and companies
that make active phar-
maceutical ingredients,
which are the building
blocks of prescription
drugs. Many of these raw
materials are produced
overseas and drawn more
attention during the virus
outbreak. Companies that
make respirators and other
medical devices would
be required to report to
the federal government
potential supply chain
interruptions.
Hotels
The hotel industry last
week asked the White
House for a $150 billion
financial-aid package,
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hospitality companies.
What it got instead from
the CARES Act is a patch-
work of loans, grants
and tax help, much of it
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loans and grants for small
businesses. The majority
of U.S. hoteliers qualify
as businesses with fewer
than 500 employees, mak-
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in annual revenue.
The lodging industry
even scored a victory in
getting language in the
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each individual hotel as its
own business. Hotel own-
ers with several properties
had been concerned that
they would not qualify as
a small business because
taken together, all their
properties would have
pushed them over the cur-
rent Small Business Ad-
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The federal boost in
unemployment insurance
will help the many hotel
employees who have been
furloughed across the U.S.
Larger hotel companies
can apply for loans through
the Treasury Department’s
economic stabilization
fund. But few in the lodg-
ing industry expect travel
to bounce back by late
spring, or even soon after.
Postal Service
Under the CARES Act,
the financially strained
U.S. Postal Service is get-
ting a $10 billion Treasury
loan to help the mail car-
rier during the pandemic.
That should be welcome
news for Amazon.com
Inc., United Parcel Service
Inc. and, to a lesser extent,
FedEx Corp., which rely
on postal workers for last-
mile delivery in certain
places.
The Postal Service is
only allowed by law to
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billion a year, so the bill
loosens that restriction.
But it does come with some
strings attached. Mainly,
the Postal Service can
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operating expenses and not
to pay down outstanding
debt. The bill also requires
the Postal Service to pri
oritize medical shipment
and allows temporary
delivery points to protec
workers and recipient
of mail.
Private equity
According to the
CARES Act, private
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access to stimulus funds
Based on available detail
of the stimulus pack
age, private-equity-owned
businesses wouldn’t be
explicitly barred from
receiving assistance. Bu
government lending re
quirements could preven
them from unlocking the
aid, say lawyers, lobbyist
and regulatory experts.
Railroads
Per the CARES Act, na
tional passenger railroad
Amtrak secured abou
$1 billion to cover rev
enue losses related to the
coronavirus. The railroad
industry won enhanced
unemployment benefit
that account for its work
ers not being covered
under traditional state-run
unemployment programs
Railroad workers instead
receive unemploymen
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administered by the Rail
road Retirement Board.
The bill removes a
seven-day waiting period
to collect unemploymen
and provides $50 million
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to that waiver. It also
provides $425 million to
double biweekly unem
ployment payments to
$1,200 through July.
Small
businesses
The CARES Act would
allow businesses and
nonprofits with up to
500 workers in a single
location to apply through
qualifying banks for loan
backed by the Small Busi
ness Administration. The
loans would convert into
grants that don’t have to be
repaid for amounts spen
on items such as payroll
rent or utilities, with
the grants reduced when
workers are laid off. The
loans would be capped
at $10 million and cove
wages up to $100,000 a
year.
H olloway & A ssociates, LLC
Karla D. Holloway
CPA
Rick Yecny,
CPA
We are sorry, but for the safety of our clients as well as our staff , we are not accepting appointments as our offi ce is
temporarily closed to foot traffi c due to social distancing. Feel free to drop off your taxes in the slot in our door or call us,
we are still working on tax returns. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to all our customers.
Th ank you for your understanding. Holloway and Associates.
Certifi ed Public Accountants • 733 Highway 101, Florence • Ph #541-997-3434
Rod McCulloch
CPA
Andrea Dexter
CPA
