April 7 COVID-19 UPDATE

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
Just a reminder to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that opened on Friday.  The PPP had an extremely high demand on the opening day and that posed problems which included delays and some flaws.  That being said, the program has already processed tens of BILLIONS of dollars in loans according to several large banks.  Links to eligible institutions as well as the application can be found at the bottom below.

According to the Small Business Administration, the broad outlines of the loans are as follows.  Please remember that to be forgivable, 75% of the loan needs to be used on your payroll.

“The loans are available to cover up to eight weeks of average monthly payroll (based on 2019 figures) plus 25% and payments are deferred for six months (interest does accrue). The SBA will forgive the portion of loan proceeds used for payroll costs and other designated operating expenses for up to eight weeks, provided at least 75% of loan proceeds are used for payroll costs. Eligible expenses for the eight-week forgiveness include:

• Payroll costs (excluding the prorated portion of any compensation above $100,000 per year for any person. Payroll costs include salary, commissions, tips; certain employee benefits including sick leave and health care premiums, and state and local taxes;
  
• Mortgage interest (not prepayment or principal payments) and rent payments on mortgages and leases in existence after February 15, 2020;
  
• Utilities such as electricity, gas, water, transportation, phone and internet access for services that began before February 15, 2020; and
  
• Additional wages paid to tipped employees.”
  

Resources

• https://www.sba.gov/paycheckprotection/find
  
• https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Paycheck-Protection-Program-Application-3-30-2020-v3.pdf
  

Insurance
Insurance companies, large and small, are discussing sending money back to its customers as a result of the COVID-10 pandemic.  With fewer driven miles and fewer accidents Allstate said that it would return over $600 million in premiums to its customers in April and other insurance companies are calculating what percentage discounts that they will be processing.
 
Other Links:
Resources: https://www.a-r-a.org/covid-19-resources
Important Links: https://www.a-r-a.org/covid-19-links.html
State and Provincial Orders: https://www.a-r-a.org/states-covid-19-orders.html