Coronavirus Relief Update Details

To download a copy of the massive omnibus bill, click here.

For those interested in reading into the Coronavirus Relief portion of the 5593 page omnibus bill Congress passed last night, you can skip ahead to page 1823 in the PDF (Division M) and then to page 1924 of the PDF (Division N) to see details of the relief plans. Division M covers funding for various different government departments and their role in pandemic relief. Division N is the "Additional Coronavirus Response & Relief" - this is the support for individuals, families and businesses. Since this section was not broken down in the table of contents, here are some key parts (and their page number in the PDF, not the bill).

• Unemployment Assistance - page 1927 - extension of $300 between December 26 and March 14. INTERESTING NOTE - There is now a return to work reporting requirement
• Covid-Related Tax Relief Act - Page 1965 - covers a lot of areas dealing with taxes related to any pandemic relief received.
• Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Continuation - Page 2042 - (a) makes forgiveness of the original loan much easier for those initial loans of $150K or less, (b) businesses must show a 25% or greater loss year on year,
• Eligibility amounts = 2.5x for most businesses; Companies with NAICS code 72 (Accommodation and Food Services) will be eligible for 3.5x monthly salary expenses (page 2073)
• PPP for DMO's - Destination Marketing Organizations now qualify for PPP loans (page 2100)
• Grants for Shuttered Venue Operators (page 2124) - this is the section covered under the "Save Our Stages" Act to support live performance venues and theaters.
• EIDL Advance Deduction (page 2193) - if I am reading this correctly, anyone who received an advance on their EIDL loan (the $1K per employee) is automatically forgiven.
• Transportation Workers - Airline Industry Support (page 2208) - provides additional relief for the airline industry to support keeping employees onboard.
• Transportation Services Act (page 2233) - Additional support for providers of transportation services is being given in the form of grants.

There are various other provisions in the remainder of the bill covering multiple areas - it's quite thorough. While it's great to see many of our colleagues in the industry through live events/performances, accommodations/food service, and transportation are being given this additional support, again this is greatly lacking in support of our meetings & events industry. The lack of education of Congressional representatives just goes to show we remain quite invisible and the assumption is that we lump into one of the aforementioned categories.

Hoping there is yet another round to support our industry in the near future.