Washington, DC – Representative Jim Baird (R-IN) supports the passage of critical relief legislation, the CARES Act. This bipartisan legislation will provide for thousands of Hoosier families and small businesses who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Representative Baird released the following statement:
“While American families worry about keeping their loved ones safe and healthy from COVID-19, many are also asking how they will be able to pay their bills and put food on their table. People are suffering by no fault of their own. They are unable to go to work and are unsure when they will return. Small business owners are doing everything possible to stay afloat while keeping their employees. This bold legislation intends to give some certainty to families, workers, and small business owners.”
“While no legislation is perfect, the American people are depending on their elected officials to lead in a responsible and bipartisan manner. During an emergency like this, we cannot let them down.”
How the CARES Act helps Hoosiers:
Assistance for health care providers
- Provides an additional $100 billion for hospitals
- Provides $11 billion for vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and other medical needs
- Provides $1.5 billion in support for local, state, and federal public health agencies
- Purchases additional personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical equipment
- Opens up telehealth access for home-based services, community health centers, and rural health centers and provides an additional $1.3 billion for community health centers to treat COVID-19 patients
Direct and immediate financial relief to Hoosiers
- Allots $1,200 checks to individuals making less than $75,000 annually ($2,400 for a couple making less than $150,000 annually), plus $500 per child
- Allows individuals to access their retirement plans for coronavirus-related expenses without an early withdrawal penalty
- Allows individuals to defer student loan payments for 6 months with no penalty or interest
- Incentivizes charitable giving by temporarily increasing the amount individuals can deduct from their taxes for charitable contributions, and allows
Expands unemployment insurance for workers
- Provides an extra $600 weekly federal UI benefit on top of the state maximum temporarily
- Funds an additional 13 weeks of federally-funded unemployment eligibility for individuals after they’ve exhausted state UI benefits through the end of the year
- Temporarily expands UI eligibility to include the self-employed, independent contractors, those with limited work history, railroad workers, and those who worked at non-profit entities
Relief for Indiana businesses
- The emergency funding program focuses on small businesses with less than 500 employees because they employ a vast majority of the workforce.
- Provides $500 billion in secured loans to affected businesses and establishes an Inspector General and Oversight Board to provide accountability for the loan program
- Provides $350 billion for SBA interruption loans
- These SBA loans will be made available and administered through local banks and credit unions.
- Provides bankruptcy relief for small businesses by raising the maximum debt threshold for eligibility, so that more small- and medium-sized businesses can get through bankruptcy faster and more easily
- Delays the employer payroll tax
- Increases the amount of deductible business interest allowed
- Allows small businesses to participate in a Payroll Protection Program that will allow for loan forgiveness
