The U.S. Senate passed, 96-0, Wednesday evening a bipartisan $2 trillion emergency package to address the impacts of COVID-19. The bill now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives.The package is overwhelmingly focused on tax rebates for individuals and families, small business and corporate assistance, emergency medical supplies and additional resources for government response. Special districts, however, did not receive inclusion for the COVID-19 payroll tax credit and have not received direct inclusion in the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund. Districts are encouraged to send the attached template to their member of the House of Representatives.The emergency supplemental appropriations portion of this package alone would provide $340 billion in emergency appropriations for federal, state and local governments to cushion the blow and address the urgent needs as the nation grapples with COVID-19. A $150 billion relief fund will be set up to address shortfalls state and local governments are facing to address the crisis; however, much of that fund looks to be focused on governments facing income tax delays and losses as well as sales tax losses.Some highlights for special districts include:Paid sick and family leave for COVID-19: Private employers, nonprofits and government employers with fewer than 500 employees would be required to provide two weeks of paid sick leave if the employee is diagnosed with COVID-19. The employee would be paid at the full rate. If the employee is taking time off to care for someone with COVID-19 or for a child who now must be at home due to the crisis, perhaps due to a school closure, then the employee would get 2/3 the wage rate.In the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which was signed into law last Wednesday, payroll tax credits would be granted to employers for paid FMLA and sick leave, but excluded governments – including special districts – from receiving that payroll tax credit. This package does not remedy the concern. TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to include special districts in COVID-19 payroll tax credits. (Download Letter Here) Retirement accounts: The bill would allow flexibility on retirement distributions from several qualified retirement funds, including 457s. For individuals diagnosed with coronavirus, maximum distributions would be $100,000 for a tax year. This would apply to distributions made after this bill becomes law and before Dec. 31., 2020.Emergency Management: The bill would provide $100 million for state and local governments on emergency coordination, communication and logistics.Coronavirus Relief Fund: A $150 billion fund would be established to assist state and local governments offset losses incurred during COVID-19 crisis. Unfortunately, special districts are unlikely to benefit from this fund, as the legislation is geared toward governments experiencing sales and income tax losses and delays. TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to include special districts in the federal aid package addressing the economic impact of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Download Letter Here)CDC Funding for State and Local Governments: The legislation would provide $1.5 billion of governments to execute a number of public health actions including purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE), lab testing to detect COVID-19 cases and infection control and mitigation for local COVID-19 containment. This would likely be of more concern for healthcare districts.FEMA supplement: The bill also includes $45 billion for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to continue its response and recovery efforts. This includes reimbursements for state and local government across the country under the Disaster Relief Fund emergency and major disaster declarations. This would haveCSDA will continue to updating districts on this federal legislative matters as it evolves.---Take ActionDownload the sample letter here and to your member of Congress. To find your district's member of the U.S. House of Representatives, use this link. Districts can also call their representative. Use the "contact me" page on your member of Congress' website to find his or her office phone numbers, or use this directory for DC office phone numbersShould you have any questions about the bill or sample letter, please feel free to contact CSDA's Public Affairs Field Coordinator, Cole Karr, at colek@csda.net or by phone at (417) 861-7418, or CSDA's Legislative Representative, Alyssa Silhi, at alyssas@csda.net.---
COVID-19-related posts such as this one are migrating to CSDA's new Novel Coronavirus/COVID-19 Resources Community. Please subscribe to continue receiving COVID-19-related content.
In an effort to open up special district communications among special districts statewide, CSDA has created a new online forum/community specific to the topic of COVID-19. This will be the place for members to share information on how they are adapting programs/services to serve their communities in response to COVID-19 and ask questions of peers throughout the state. Additionally, this community will have a growing library of resources on the topic as they are developed.
------------------------------Cole KarrPublic Affairs Field CoordinatorCalifornia Special Districts AssociationBakersfield CA(417) 861-7418