Act Now: Send A Letter to Congresspeople and Senators

Friends,

Congress continues to work through the details of coming up with a relief bill that will satisfy the needs of a nation.

This is a long, complicated process.

The two primary bills are HEROES and HEALS.

It is unlikely that either one will end up being the final bill.

There are several other ancillary bills that are related as well. Learn about the HEROES vs HEALS vs CARES.

The House and the Senate are engaged in conversations, discussions and negotiations.

It is very unlikely anything will be delivered this week.

The RESTART Act has gained a lot of support, but at the moment it is not included in either bill.

There are 44 Senators and 45 Congresspeople signed on as sponsors.

The language in the HEALS Act that covers additional PPP is not sufficient.

As written, it only provides 10 weeks of additional funding, and that is only one half of what is needed.

We must have 20 weeks to carry everyone to the end of the year.

The trigger period from which you derive your loan amount is the year preceding the day you obtain your loan.

The problem with that is many firms and people had little to no income in that period.

We are pushing to change the trigger period to the calendar year 2019.

There is also a maximum loan value of $2 million dollars and that is simply too small.

All of these issues are being worked on to alter them.

Remember, this is a process.

The HEROES Bill does not extend the PPP at all.

There are also theories for low cost loans proposed as well as a mechanism to allow those people that are employed by multiple firms via W-2 to be able to participate in some method of funding.

As before, the issues of Liability Indemnity and Enhanced Unemployment Insurance are being discussed.

At the moment it seems Enhanced Unemployment Insurance will fall between $200 and $600 a week.

I am told some version of both will occur.

Far bigger players than our industry are leading these charges and  our time and efforts are best spent working toward additional funding.

Here is a chart to help you understand the offerings of the original Cares Act, HEROES Act and HEALS Act.

Please bear in mind it is very likely that the final bill will be parts of both as well as items from other bills.

We need everyone to open this NAMM link and send the attached letter to your Congresspeople and Senators.

The link is self-explanatory and provides all information you need.

It is of the utmost importance we get as many people as possible to participate in this, so share this with everyone you can

Our strength is in numbers, and the NAMM name on Capitol Hill carries us a long way.

I wish to thank all of you for everything that you do.

We need this action now as the legislators are making decisions now.

Our goal is to assure our legislators are as well informed as is possible and that our industry is taken care of in the best possible way.

Thank you.

 

Michael T. Strickland

Chair and Founder

Bandit Lites