Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 15, 2020 -- SEVEN
Guest Editorials
Pandemic, Policy, Politics
By Senator Bill Hansell
As I was nearing the
conclusion of my first leg-
islative session in May of
2013, someone asked me
what my plans were for the
interim. That caused me
to pause. I had never even
thought about it, because
in my entire working life,
I had never had an interim.
But I quickly figured out the
answer, which was to keep
on serving the citizens of
my Senate District, in any
way I could.
Had someone asked me
in February 2020, “What
are my plans for a pandem-
ic?” I would not have had
an answer. But I sure do
now. So far in this interim,
the COVID-19 pandemic
is front and center in ev-
erything we legislators are
doing. Most all of what I am
doing falls into three cate-
gories of focus: pandemic,
policy and politics.
I have learned more
about this pandemic, this
disease, this plague then
I ever imagined. But to
formulate good policy you
should know what you
are fighting and what you
need to fight it. The last
pandemic was the Spanish
flu of 1918 over a century
ago. The one thing about
the COVID-19 virus, that
seems to be universally
agreed upon, is the prima-
ry method of spreading is
through breath droplets.
Masks and physical dis-
tancing really do work,
which I have been trying
to do.
When it comes to pol-
icy development and re-
source allocation, this is
where the bulk of my time
has been being spent. I
would never have guessed
that I would be on hours and
hours of daily conference
calls. But such is life in a
pandemic.
One of my high pri-
orities and policy focus
has been keeping our ru-
ral health care facilities
functioning. Decrees from
Salem, while probably good
for the most part, have had
serious impacts on rural
hospitals and health care.
I have made phone calls,
I have worked with my
colleagues, I have both
authored and signed on to
letters to the governor and
other officials about the dire
straits rural health care is
facing. I believe funding,
both state and federal, is
beginning to be available,
but it hasn’t been without
its drama.
The politics portion is
the most frustrating. Why
can’t we come together
across the aisle to do what
is best for the citizens of
Oregon? The COVID-19
virus is not a Republican or
Democrat nor does it pick
and choose its victims by
party affiliation. This pan-
demic has made for strange
bedfellows at times. From
my perspective, the Senate
Republican caucus has been
more aligned with Gover-
nor Brown much of the time
than the other caucuses,
including her own.
But at the end of the
day this pandemic battle
would be a whole lot easier
and more effective, if we
could leave politics out of
the game plan both on the
national and state level.
However, until that time
comes, it will be part of
what I need to do, to make
sure rural Oregon does not
get the short end of the
stick. The stakes are too
high.
Our office has been and
will continue to help in any
way we can. Please feel free
to contact us if you have
issues with which you need
assistance. The best way,
since we are all working
from home, is by email at
sen.billhansell@oregonleg-
islature.gov. We will do all
we can to be of help.
In the meantime, stay
safe, be smart and mask up
in public.
Senator Bill Hansell
is from Athena, and during
the COVID-19 pandemic
is spending most all of his
time in his home on Third
Street. However, his wife
Margaret does have him
working outside, when he
isn’t on a conference call,
with an assortment of hon-
ey-do projects.
Due to the State guidelines regarding the Coronavirus outbreak,
All Wheatland Insurance Offices will be closed to the public.
Employees will be working in a secure location in order to
continue taking care of business. Please call 541-422-7410 to
talk with an agent regarding any of your insurance questions.
You will be able to make premium payments during this time by
calling 541-422-7410. Payments can be made by credit card or
debit card. For cash payment options, please call the
541-422-7410 number to make arrangements. We all are praying
this situation will be over very soon.
Please be safe.
Economic relief, beware of payback
traps
By Daniel Van Schoiack,
CPA
Last week’s article
outlined two forms of re-
lief available to business,
nonprofit organizations
and churches who have
experience economic hard-
ship from the COVID-19
restrictions; the Payroll
Protection Plan (PPP) and
the Economic Injury Di-
saster Grant (EIDL). Both
of these programs were part
of the recently passed Cares
Act by congress.
Generally a business
or nonprofit organization
with 500 or less employees
can apply for both of these
relief programs. However,
there is a trap, the amount of
proceeds from the PPP that
are equal to the amount of
an EILD Grant must be paid
back per section 1110(e)(6)
of the Cares Act. But as a
Candidate
forum
April 20
The forum being held
for candidates running for
Morrow County positions
will be broadcast electron-
ically on Monday, April
20 at 6 p.m. The Heppner
Chamber reminds those
who are interested in partic-
ipating to sign in to Zoom
prior to 6 p.m. at https://
zoom.us/j/287416202. The
meeting ID is 287416202.
Candidates included in
the forum will be Joseph B
Armato, Jim Doherty, Joel
R Peterson and Michael
Sweek for Morrow County
Commissioner, position
one; Theresa Crawford,
Glen Diehl and Kelly L
Doherty for Justice of the
Peace; and Sabrina L Bailey
Cave, Cody High, Jaylene
Papineau and Eric Patton
for Treasurer.
For additional informa-
tion contact the Heppner
Chamber at 541-676-5536
or email heppnerchamber@
centurytel.com.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
result of last week’s crash
of the EIDL Grant program,
that might not be a big con-
cern to some applicants.
Originally, the maxi-
mum amount of the EIDL
Grant was $10,000 per
applicant. However, due to
the overwhelming number
of applicants, there was an
unofficial announcement
that the amount of EIDL
Grants might be reduced
to $1,000 per employee for
some recipients, if they re-
ceive any payment at all. As
previously mentioned, the
proceeds from the paycheck
protection program are also
subject to repayment for
failure to maintain or re-
store average number of
employees and total wages
to a prior base period. Also,
since 75 percent of the
proceeds from PPP must
be used for payroll cost, it
is important to monitor and
account for the funds in a
separate bank account.
As an alternative to
applying for the Payroll
Protection Plan, a qualify-
ing employer can use the
employee retention credit
where relief is immediate as
a credit against federal pay-
roll taxes. The credit applies
to 50 percent of wages from
March 13 through Decem-
ber 31, 2020. The credit can
be applied to a maximum
of $10,000 in wages, there-
fore the maximum credit
allowed is $5,000. The
credit can be applied on any
federal payroll reporting
Form 941 beginning with
the 2 nd quarter of 2020. An
employer may also request
an advance payment for the
credit by submitting Form
7200.
It is important to note
that an employer may not
use both the Payroll Protec-
tion Plan and the employee
retention credit without
triggering a repayment.
While the PPP might pro-
vide a greater dollar amount
of benefits, those who apply
must be aware of the pay-
back traps that come with it;
including amounts received
as an EIDL Grant.
Daniel Van Schoiack
CPA is a member of the
American and Oregon So-
ciety of CPA’s.
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call 541-676-9228 or stop by the office on Willow St., Heppner Today