Last week, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the third coronavirus aid package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which the President has now signed into law. This bill builds on recent legislation to provide much-needed aid directly to communities across our nation. 

Included in the CARES Act is relief for: 

Health care

This bill invests billions in desperately-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) for those health care professionals and first responders working every day on the frontlines. It also invests in COVID-19 vaccine development, testing supplies, workforce training, new construction for patient housing, an increase in the Strategic National Stockpile, and research on COVID-19. The CARES Act also includes $150 billion for state and local governments that are handling this epidemic. 

Telehealth is now, more than ever, crucial to diagnose and treat patients in safe and timely ways. This legislation expands the use of telehealth to work towards a more efficient treatment system. 

This bill also takes care of families who may be battling illness by allowing funds in health savings accounts (HSAs) to be used to purchase over-the-counter medicines that can be used to treat symptoms.

Families

Also included is aid to take care of families in Ohio and across the nation through direct payments and unemployment insurance. Taxpayers who earn up to $75,000 per year will be provided $1,200 in direct payments. The refunds will start to phase out from $75,000 and will end at $99,000. Families will receive direct payments of $500 per child on top of the $1,200 to lessen the effect of the economic calamity that COVID-19 has caused.

This legislation will also enhance and expand unemployment benefits. Specifically, it extends the timeline of unemployment insurance by 13 weeks, from 26 to 39 weeks, and of the type of workers who qualify to now include 1099-independent contractors, self-employed workers, gig, and low-wage workers. Under the CARES Act, weekly benefits for all unemployed workers by will increase by $600 a week for up to four months to make sure that they have the relief needed before hopefully soon returning to work.

Small businesses

Small businesses have been severely affected by the economic calamity that COVID-19 has caused. This bill supports them through additional loans and grants to help them keep as many workers employed as possible.

Specifically, the Small Business Administration will offer loans that will eventually be eligible for loan forgiveness in order to cover payroll, rent, group health care benefits, sick leave, insurance premiums, FMLA, and other obligations. 

Small business owners are truly the backbone of our economy, which is why this bill looks out for these entrepreneurs and their employees.

Student borrowers

There are also a number of additional commonsense, bipartisan proposals included in this bill, including one that I’ve been championing for years to support our student borrowers. 

One provision would make employer-sponsored student loan repayment programs a non-taxable fringe benefit, allowing student borrowers to receive up to $10,000 towards their student loans tax-free. In addition, I also pushed for student loan interest and repayments to be suspended, in order to give folks more flexibility in their household budgets as we deal with the uncertainty of this situation.

This is an unprecedented situation, and I am glad that Congress came together to take care of our small business and to make sure that families can pay their bills.

We have all seen the best of humanity throughout the past few weeks, we have seen people step up like never before. I am hopeful that we will all continue doing our part to flatten the curve, and our communities will come back stronger than ever.

For more information about the CARES Act, please call my Hilliard office at (614) 771-4968.