Restaurants, loggers among Maine businesses to benefit from relief package
File Photo / Renee Cordes
The new federal COVID-19 relief package includes extra Paycheck Protection Program provisions for the restaurant industry, hard-hit by the pandemic.
Maine restaurants and the logging industry are among the small businesses that will see a direct impact from the appropriations bill passed by Congress last week, and signed by President Donald Trump on Sunday night.
The wide-ranging $2.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes $908 billion in pandemic relief, also funds the government for the coming year.
In general the pandemic relief portion of the bill funds a new round of Payroll Protection Program Loans, extends unemployment compensation, has a range of appropriations covering COVID-19 testing and vaccines; provides money for the health care industry, schools, transit and more.
“I’m glad the president has signed the COVID-19 relief bill into law," said U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, in a news release. "Millions of families and thousands of small businesses are counting on the relief measures contained in this legislation to survive the next several months of this pandemic."
Some of the specific provisions that will have an impact in Maine are below.
Restaurant industry: Restaurants will be able to borrow 3.5 times their monthly payroll costs, as opposed to the 2.5 for other businesses in the $284 billion round of PPP loans. The House-endorsed Restaurants Act, however, which would have provided money for industry-specific challenges beyond payroll, didn't make the the final bill. The state's hospitality industry, which includes restaurants and lodging, is projecting a $1.7 billion loss of revenue for the year, and 28,000 lost jobs, if multiplier jobs are included.
New PPP round. In general, the new round of PPP loans allows businesses that exhausted their first loan to take out a second one. There are changes that affect eligibility, the forgiveness process and the tax treatment of the PPP loans. The bill also has made changes that will benefit small businesses to the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, the Employee Retention Tax Credit, the Venue Grant program and SBA loan programs.
Loggers, log haulers. Direct relief to loggers and log haulers, an industry left out of the previous stimulus. Golden and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, pushed for the addition of the industry, and the bill includes $200 million for loggers and timber haulers that have lost 10% of revenue or more this year. Maine's logging industry have reported a 30% to 40% reduction in wood markets.
Energy innovation. The most sweeping energy package passed by Congress in more than a decade, which will enhance the potential of renewable energy, support Maine’s forest products industry, reduce consumer energy costs and significantly advance the nation’s fight against climate change, according to U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who sponsored much of the energy legislation.
Unemployment extension. Provides $300 a week in unemployment insurance on top of state compensation through March 14, half of the $600 in the previous bill. It covers the self-employed, gig workers, part-timers and others who are typically ineligible for regular unemployment benefits. Payments will be interrupted for several weeks because of the delay in the bill being signed, which caused the previous provision to lapse Friday.
Rent relief. The bill extends the federal eviction moratorium through Jan. 31, and provides $25 billion for renters to pay rent, both past due and future, and utility bills.
Transit. The act includes $15 billion for transportation agencies, which will be distributed based on Federal Transit Administration formulas, and limits the amount major urban centers can get, opening relief up to smaller transit systems and companies.
Congressional reaction
Collins, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, was part of the 908 Coalition, a bipartisan, bicameral group in Congress that developed the framework for the relief package.
“The compromise provides urgently needed housing, nutrition and unemployment compensation to struggling families," Collins said. "It allocates funding for schools that have been challenged to operate safely in a COVID environment; assists the overwhelmed postal service; and provides assistance to our airlines, airports, mass transit, and bus and motorcoach companies that keep our country moving.
She said the government funding "provides significant investments including strengthening our defense and assisting our veterans to providing funding for biomedical research and public health to supporting transportation and economic development programs that will help our country as we make progress to defeat the pandemic.”
King focused on the energy provisions, saying the energy package "advances a number of key priorities to support the American people in the short-term, and protect our planet in the long-term.”
"Climate change is an overarching threat to our planet and our people — at the same time we face of this challenge, it also presents us with enormous opportunities if we are bold,” he said. “Shifting our energy system to prioritize renewable technologies and resources can mitigate the risks of climate change, reduce energy costs for consumers and strengthen America’s technological leadership around the globe."
Golden said he and Collins will continue to work together on the logging industry provisions, to make sure Maine's loggers and haulers benefit.
He added, “My staff and I remain committed to helping constituents and businesses in our district understand the resources available to them through this relief bill and to working with federal agencies to ensure Mainers receive all the relief for which they qualify."
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, Maine 1st District, said the bill is "far from perfect and we have a lot more work to do come January."
But, she added, "It includes critical support for the American people during this crisis."
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