House passes updated $2.2 trillion Heroes Act

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed an updated $2.2 trillion Heroes Act to in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to provide relief to families, workers, business and agriculture.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every single part of our daily lives,” said Rep. T.J. Cox-d, who represents District 21, which includes a portion of Southwestern Tulare County. “We all know someone in the Central Valley who has had their business or their safety threatened by the Coronavirus.

“The CARES Act was a great step in helping Americans get through this crisis, but my colleagues in Congress and I knew more needed to be done. That’s why we passed the Heroes Act, to ensure that the American people got the assistance they needed to make it through this pandemic. I urge my colleagues in the Senate and the Trump administration to ensure this plan becomes a reality.”

Two major provision of the bill that were included in the CARES Act are also in the Heroes Act. The bill includes another $1,200 payment for many Americans and restores additional unemployment insurance payments of $600 a week through January that was included in the CARES Act..

• There’s also $30 billion in assistance provided for agriculture. Other provisions in the bill include:

• $10 billion in additional funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

• Increases the SNAP benefit level by 15 percent and the minimum benefit to $30 per month until September 30, 2021, as well as temporarily lifts mandatory work requirements

• $400 million in special supplemental funding for Women Infant and Children (WIC)

• $450 million to help local food banks meet increased demand

• $57 billion to support childcare for families

• Protects payrolls, by enhancing the new employee retention tax credit that encourages employers to keep employees on payroll

• Provides $2 billion for the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for essential workers

• Creates a deferred status for undocumented essential workers, protecting them from deportation

• $25 million for farmworker assistance and housing

• Requires OSHA to issue a strong, enforceable standard within seven days to require all workplaces to develop and implement infection control plans based on CDC guidelines

• $1 billion in funding for medical school construction, expansion, and training in underserved areas

• $75 billion for coronavirus testing, contact tracing and isolation measures designed to ensure every American can access free coronavirus treatment and supporting hospitals and providers

• $28 billion for procurement, distribution and education campaigns for a safe and effective vaccine

• Preserves health coverage, protecting Americans from losing their employer-provided health insurance by making sure unemployed Americans automatically receive the maximum ACA subsidy on the exchanges, as well as a special enrollment period in the ACA exchanges for uninsured Americans

• Creates a $436 billion State and Local Coronavirus Relief Fund to cover Covid-related expenses, replace forgone revenues, and respond to the negative economic impacts of the pandemic

• Extends the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and allows unspent funds from the CARES Act to be utilized

• Authorizes additional funding for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and EIDL emergency grants

• $25 billion for airline industry workers, extending the Payroll Support Program to keep airline industry workers paid through March 31, 2021

• Makes adjustments to the Paycheck Protection Program, to help businesses keep their doors open, by:

• Creating more relief for the smallest businesses, struggling nonprofits, and second loans to the hardest hit businesses

• Delivering targeted assistance for the struggling restaurant industry and independent live venue operators

• Extending the covered periods to provide borrowers greater flexibility to use their loans

• Streamlining forgiveness for loans under $150,000

• Increasing eligibility for non-profits to include all 501c’s including labor unions and farm bureaus

• Expanding the list of allowable uses for PPP funds to include PPE, supplier costs, and property damage costs

• Creating a set aside of 25 percent of remaining funding for distribution by community lenders, specifically CDFIS, CDCS, MDIS, and microloan intermediaries

As far as agriculture, the bill provides:

• $500 million in additional funding to support specialty crop farmers and address COVID-19 supply chain issues

• $500 million for the dairy donation program to pay for milk processing and donation to nonprofits like food banks

• $50 million to support beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers

• $350 million in additional funding to support local farmers and farmers markets

• Provides $350 million to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to ensure continued inspections of agricultural products in order to keep pests and diseases from entering the U.S.

• Provides supplemental dairy margin coverage payments to assist small and mid-sized dairies

• Provides emergency assistance payments for livestock and poultry losses

• Requires reporting on meat and poultry processing to increase resiliency and flexibility of processing capacity

• The bill is also designed to bolster housing assistance and protect the Postal Service.