As many of you know, the Senate passed a $2 trillion economic rescue plan on March 26, 2020 titled the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”). The CARES Act is meant to offer relief to many Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic and is expected to pass in the House of Representatives and be signed by the President as early as this Friday. Based on a quick review of the Act – which you can read here, the following should be useful to the jewelry industry and is based on resources and information currently available and therefore likely to change. It seems the stimulus package, if passed, will provide the following:
- Creation of a multi-billion-dollar Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) that will allow the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to issue low interest loans of up to $10 million to qualified businesses. We recommend reviewing the user-friendly SBA website here to see if your business is eligible and review the application instructions.
- Short-term loans for certain businesses that retain 90% of their workforces until September 30,2020 (to the extent practicable) with no payments due for the first six months.
- Direct payments to Americans based on marital status, number of children and adjusted gross incomes. Payments for single individuals may be $1,200, $2400 for couples, and $500 to parents for each child under 17. The more you earn (based on tax returns for 2019 or 2018 if you haven’t completed your 2019 returns), the less you will receive in a check and single people making over $99,000 will not qualify for any direct payments.
- Money will likely not be sent out until May according to several news sources
- Additional $600 per week in unemployment benefits, paid for by the federal government and an extended time to receive unemployment benefits.
