Advocacy in action blog

On March 25, the Senate passed 92-7 legislation to extend the deadline for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications to May 31. The program has issued 7.5 million loans totaling $687 billion to small businesses during the last year, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA). The bill would also allow the agency an extra month to process applications after the program closes.

The White House has released a fact sheet clarifying some aspects of the latest round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding that opened a month ago. The PPP provides loans to small businesses, including NAIFA members and their clients, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The low-interest loans may be forgiven if the businesses that receive them meet certain conditions.

NAIFA-FL supports two bills that provide several COVID-19-related liability protections for businesses, educational institutions, government entities, religious organizations, and other entities.

As part of the COVID relief package passed by Congress, NAIFA-backed Flexible Spending Account (FSA) relief was included to relieve some of the financial burden consumers face regarding healthcare costs and health spending account allocations. Known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, (CAA) it includes provisions extending FSA benefits to those enrolled in such plans.

As we posted earlier, agreement has come together at the final hour on the much-anticipated COVID-19 relief and government-funding legislation. The 5,593-page legislation is expected to be signed by President Trump today.

State lawmakers across the country are grappling with different solutions to quell business owners’ fears of legal liability as the pandemic threatens to loom for many months yet to come. NAIFA is encouraging lawmakers to pass bills that would enact liability immunity for businesses to protect them from a barrage of civil lawsuits related to the exposure to COVID-19.

View the Webinar On-Demand

This special NAIFA webinar provided Paycheck Protection Program updates and information on COVID-19 amendments to the Family Medica Leave Act that insurance and financial professionals need to know. NAIFA members may view the webinar on-demand. If you are not a NAIFA member, please join.

The federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has provided more than $517 billion in COVID-19 relief loans to nearly 5 million employers across the United States. Nearly 170,000 loans have gone to companies in the finance and insurance sector, while many more have gone to small businesses served by NAIFA members and other financial professionals. As of July 7, more than $130 billion remained in PPP funding, according to the Small Business Administration.

On June 17, the U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, posted a revised, borrower-friendly Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application implementing the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020, signed into law by President Trump on June 5, 2020.  In addition to revising the full forgiveness application, SBA also published a new EZ version of the forgiveness application that applies to borrowers that: