Hoeven Discusses CARES Act Assistance With NFIB Members, Holds Q&A With SBA District Director

Senator Working to Ensure Businesses Can Best Access Assistance, Gather Input on Federal COVID-19 Response

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today outlined to National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) members the assistance provided in the COVID-19 response legislation, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Hoeven hosted Small Business Administration (SBA) North Dakota District Director Alan Haut for the video conference, which comes as part of a series of meetings that the senator is holding to help ensure the state’s businesses can best access the assistance and to gather feedback to bring to the administration and help inform the next phases of legislative efforts.

“Once we’ve beaten COVID-19, we need our economy to get moving as quickly as possible,” said Hoeven. “These meetings are about helping businesses take advantage of the assistance provided under the CARES Act. That means keeping their operations intact and ready to go with employees still on payroll. In order to bolster these efforts, we’re working to secure more funding for the PPP and preparing the next phase of our response. We welcome the feedback from our state’s businesses and appreciate SBA District Director Haut for working with us to address their needs.”

Hoeven is working to ensure the implementation of the CARES Act works for small businesses, provides sufficient funding to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and makes sure businesses can quickly restart their normal operations once the outbreak is resolved. During today’s call, the senator highlighted:

Direct Assistance to Individuals – provides up to $1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for married couples and an additional $500 per child. The payments begin phasing out for individuals and couples with incomes of $75,000 and $150,000, respectively.
The Paycheck Protection Program – enables small businesses and self-employed individuals to maintain payroll through forgivable, federally-guaranteed loans.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Unemployment Compensation – expands unemployment benefits to those who would otherwise be ineligible, including self-employed individuals and independent contractors.
- The Phase II legislation also provided self-employed individuals with refundable tax credits for family and sick leave, covering those who are required to quarantine or are caring for a child who is sick or whose school or child care facility has closed.
The Employee Retention Tax Credit – provides employers with a 50 percent refundable payroll tax credit for wages paid to employees, including those who are furloughed or facing reduced hours.
Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Loan Advance – provide loans of up to $2 million as well as a loan advance of up to $10,000 to cover a wide range of expenses. The emergency loan advance would not have to be repaid.

-###-

Next Article Previous Article