Federal Update

FEDERAL UPDATE The Federal CARES Act will provide$2.2 trillion in much needed help for our families, healthcare workers, and small businesses with the economic support they need to get through this challenging time. The package includes $1,200 payments to qualifying Americans, $100 billion in direct support for hospitals, and over $370 billion to small business owners to keep their employees on the payroll. It also includes direct relief for State, Tribal, and local governments through the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund. Each State will receive at least $1.25 billion. $8 billion is set aside for tribal governments. The SBA details for businesses can be found here. For unemployed workers as a result of this virus, please see the below information. The federal government recently enacted the CARES Act, which provides unemployment compensation to individuals not covered under regular Massachusetts unemployment law, such as those who are self-employed or paid by 1099s, those who have recently exhausted their weeks of unemployment benefits, and those who do not have sufficient earnings over the last year to qualify for state unemployment. The CARES Act also extends the number of available weeks of benefits for all claimants, and supplements all claimants’ weekly benefit amount by $600. The Department of Unemployment Assistance is awaiting federal guidance regarding the CARES Act’s application requirements, business rules, eligibility requirements, exceptions, and technical requirements. Until that guidance is issued, benefits under the CARES Act are not yet available in Massachusetts and claimants may not apply for such benefits through UI Online at this time. Updates about when CARES Act benefits will be available, and about when and how you should apply for those benefits will be posted at mass.gov/unemployment/covid-19 as soon as they are available. Public Assistance Program: Under FEMA’s Public Assistance Program within the Major Disaster Declaration, affected local governments, state agencies and certain private non-profit organizations statewide will be reimbursed for 75% of their costs associated with response and emergency protective measures. The eligible emergency protective measures include non-congregate isolation and quarantine costs for homeless individuals and families as well as first responders as well as other types of properly documented costs. Individual Assistance Program: Under FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program within the Major Disaster Declaration, Crisis Counseling Assistance will provide funding for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to assist individuals and families in recovering from the psychological effects of the COVID -19 outbreak through electronic phone and chat technology. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) will provide webinars and other information about the process for applying for the Public Assistance Program to municipal and state officials and eligible nonprofits. See here for more information.