Policy updates, COVID-19

Federal Policy Updates

On March 27, the U.S. House followed the Senate in passing the third stimulus package this month, which is expected to cost more than $2 trillion. The bill has been signed into law by the President. Key items of the bill include:

• Direct Payments of $1,200 to taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000, with these payments phasing out and ending for individuals earning more than $99,000. Married couples will receive payments. Families will also receive $500 per child. This is estimated to cost $300 billion in total. 

• Unemployment Benefits: A major expansion of unemployment benefits, extending benefits by 13 weeks, with also a four-month enhancement of benefits (additional $600 per week). Benefits will also be expanded to include gig workers (Uber, Lyft, etc.) during the crisis.  

• Small Businesses: Assistance to small and medium-sized businesses (fewer than 500 employees), including $10 billion in emergency grants (up to $10,000 each) to help cover immediate operating costs. Also, there is $350 billion in funding for the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide loans for up to $10 million dollars each. Portions of these loans used for items such as keeping workers on the payroll and paying for rent/mortgage could be forgiven.

• Corporations: $500 billion in funds to corporations negatively impacted through loans from the Federal Reserve. The bill does include requirements for the immediate disclosure of recipients of the funding and additional government oversight over how the funds are spent.

• State and Local Governments: $150 billion in direct support to state and local governments experiencing a significant loss in tax revenue. The bill also includes an additional $5 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.

• Dislocated Workers: $345 million in new funding for the Dislocated Worker National Reserve, which are national grants to support training and career services for workers who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19.

• Food Assistance: An additional $15.5 billion to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Also, there is $450 million for food banks and other community food distribution programs. 

• Hospitals: An additional $100 Billion to hospitals and healthcare systems to boost supplies/equipment, construct new patient facilities, and more. Increased Medicaid payments to hospitals are also included in the legislation.

State Policy Updates (Pennsylvania)

Pennsylvania is currently experiencing record-breaking numbers of people filing unemployment claims. There were more than 540,000 claims submitted between March 16th and March 24th.

Governor Tom Wolf signed four bills on March 27 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania. These include:

• House Bill 1232, which provides $50 million for the Wolf administration to purchase medical equipment and supplies for hospitals, nursing facilities, and emergency medical services to meet the urgent needs of patients and staff.
• Senate Bill 751, which waives the requirement for schools to be in session at least 180 days, provides for continuity of education plans, ensures school employees are paid during the closure and provides the Secretary of Education with authority to waive student-teacher and standardized assessments. The Department of Education previously announced the cancellation of all PSSA testing, Keystone exams and the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment for the 2019-20 school year.
• Senate Bill 422, which reschedules the 2020 primary election from April 28 to June 2. and makes other election process changes.
• House Bill 68 formalizes several of the changes made to unemployment compensation requirements in response to COVID-19. The bill requires the Department of Labor & Industry to waive the one week waiting period and job search and work registration requirements for claimants under the disaster emergency. The bill also provides relief from benefit charges for employers whose account would otherwise be charged during the disaster emergency and also provides for increased timeframes and interest-free payment plans for employers. Earlier the Department of L&I also clarified new bases for qualifying for UC, specific to COVID-19, available here.