Having trouble viewing this email?
Click here
[link removed]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 17, 2020

Senator
Bill Wielechowski
State Capitol, Rm 9
Juneau, AK 99801
800-550-2435
907-465-2435
[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
1500 W Benson #315
Anchorage, AK 99503
907-269-0120
Local Medical Facilities
Alaska Veterans Administration
1201 North Muldoon Road
Anchorage, Alaska 99504
Phone: (907) 257-4700

Providence Express Care - Tikahtnu
1118 North Muldoon Road
Anchorage, Alaska 99504

Patients First Medical Clinic
6307 Debarr Road Suite C,
Anchorage, Alaska 99504
Phone: (907) 333-7425

Urgent Care Medical Clinic
5437 E Northern Lights Blvd #1,
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Phone: (907) 333-8561

Vera Whole Health - (For Anchorage Municipal Employees)
1450 Muldoon Rd, Suite 100
Anchorage, Alaska 99504
Phone: (907) 313-7550

Mountain View Urgent Care
3521 Mountain View Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Phone: (907) 868-1105

Medical Park Family Care
2211 E Northern Lights Blvd,
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Phone: (907) 279-8486

Emergency Room

Alaska Regional Hospital
2801 Debarr Road,
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Phone: (907) 276-1131

Alaska Native Medical Center
4315 Diplomacy Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Phone: (907) 563-2662

Providence Medical Center
3200 Providence Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Phone: (907) 562-2211
Contact My Staff
Sonja Kawasaki
Chief of Staff
Office: 907-269-0120
[email protected]
Nate Graham
Legislative Aide
Office: 907-269-0120
[email protected]
Erik Gunderson
Legislative Aide
Office: 907-269-0120
[email protected]
Contact Alaska's Federal Delegation
Senator Lisa Murkowski
Phone: 907-271-3735
Website [[link removed]]
Senator Dan Sullivan
Phone: 907-271-5915
Website [[link removed]]
Representative Don Young
Phone: 907-271-5950
Website [[link removed]]
Contact the Governor
Governor Dunleavy's Anchorage office may be reached at 269-7450, or e-mail him
at [email protected] [[link removed]]
Visit the state website
www.alaska.gov [[link removed]]
________________

Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As the number of COVID-19 cases in Alaska and the United States continues to increase
and a statewide shelter-in-place order remains in effect for Alaska, my office has
received many questions and concerns from our neighbors ranging from issues about
unemployment insurance benefit to what help exists for small businesses and when
people should begin to see federal stimulus payments.
Alaska Help Line
Alaskans who need help or connection to information about services, including related
to COVID-19 impacts, can dial 2-1-1 from their phones. You can also reach out via
email to [email protected] or dial 1-800-478.2221.
This service is managed by the United Way which has expanded the call center hours
from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, due to increased calls related to COVID-19.

Unemployment Benefits
The State of Alaska has seen an unprecedented number of individuals apply for unemployment
insurance benefits in the past several weeks. As of April 4th, nearly 50,000 Alaskan
workers or 15% of the States workforce have filed for unemployment. However, these
claims likely underrepresent the number of unemployed people in Alaska, since they
don't count self-employed Alaskans, independent contractors, or gig workers.
Federal Unemployment Benefits
The federal government also increased benefits by extending the coverage period
for unemployment insurance from three to fourth months and provided an additional
$600 a week in unemployment benefits. This $600 a week would be in addition to existing
state and federal unemployment benefits per week for four months. Payments began
being dispersed Monday, April 13, 2020. Weeks filed beginning March 29, 2020,
and forward - that were eligible for UI payment - will receive retroactive payments
for this additional amount.
The federal government also created a new program called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
for gig-economy workers such as Uber or Lyft drivers who don't normally pay into
the unemployment insurance program. Benefits are the same as the state unemployment
insurance program, including the $600 additional federal money, with benefits expiring
on December 31, 2020. Note that this will take a few weeks to implement as this
is a newly established program.
State of Alaska Unemployment Benefits
The Legislature passed House Bill 308 which waives the standard one-week waiting
requirement to begin receiving unemployment insurance benefits and increases the
weekly unemployment benefit from $25 to $75 per week for each dependent of a person
receiving unemployment providing, some relief for families who have lost childcare
and income simultaneously.

Federal Stimulus Money
The federal CARES ACT provides stimulus payments of $1,200 to every adult and $500
for each dependent, with eligibility based on federal tax returns. If you have not
filed your 2018 or 2019 tax return, file it as soon as possible to receive this
stimulus check. Additionally, payments begin to phase out for individuals whose
incomes exceed $75,000, heads of household who make more than $112,500, and couples
who file a joint return and earn more than $150,000. Individuals who earn more than
$99,000 a year or who file a joint tax return with income over $198,000 will not
receive any amount of the federal stimulus check.
The first payments will begin to be distributed on Wednesday, April 15th to those
who paid taxes in 2019 or 2018 and who have an up-to-date direct-deposit account
on file with the IRS. The IRS plans to start printing paper checks in May for Americans
who do not have direct deposit information on file. People who do not pay taxes
but receive Social Security payments will receive their payments in late April.
If you have not received a payment within the next few weeks and believe that you
should have it is recommended you contact your employer who withheld your latest
taxes or visit the IRS website by clicking HERE. [[link removed]]

Small Businesses
Our State's small businesses have been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Businesses, due to no fault of their own, have been forced by the state to remain
closed. Alaska and the federal governments have passed new measures to help small
business owners during this time of need.
The Alaska Small Business Development Center has developed a resource center for
Alaska small businesses affected by COVID-19. They are offering free, on-demand
workshops, and you can find the full listing of workshops online HERE. [[link removed]]
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
The Paycheck Protection Program offers $350 billion in low-interest loans to small
businesses, implemented through the Small Business Administration's flagship 7(a)
program and local Alaska banks and credit unions. These loans have a maximum of
$10 million, are 100% federally guaranteed, and forgivable for the 8-week period
after origination to the extent they are used for certain qualified expenses-including
payroll, family or sick leave, health care benefit payments, retirement payments,
mortgage interest, rent, utilities. If employers maintain their employees on payroll,
or rehire them, by June 30, the portion of the loans used for payroll costs, interest
on mortgage obligations, rent, and utilities will be forgiven.
Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)
This program is for any small business with less than 500 employees (including sole
proprietorships, independent contractors and self-employed persons), private non-profit
organizations, or 501(c)(19) veterans' organizations affected by COVID-19.
These loans are issued at a maximum of $2 million and can be used to pay fixed debts,
payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that can't be afforded because of the
disaster's impact. An eligible entity that has applied for an Economic Injury Disaster
Loan can request an advance of up to $10,000 which the Small Business Administration
(SBA) must distribute within 3 days of approval. This advance does not have to be
repaid, even if the borrower is denied for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan.
Senate Democrats COVID-19 Page
You can find additional information on COVID-19 relief efforts by clicking HERE.
[[link removed]]
I hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy. As always you can reach out to
my office at (907) 465-2435 or reply to this email with any additional questions.
Warmly,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward this email
[link removed]

This email was sent to [email protected] by [email protected].

Update Profile/Email Address
[link removed]


Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe(TM)
[link removed]


Privacy Policy:
[link removed]




Sen. Bill Wielechowski | State Capitol | 4th Avenue & Main Street | Juneau | AK | 99801