FEDERAL

Main Street Lending Program Template Comment Submission (deadline today)

The Fed’s proposed Nonprofit Loan Program would enable nonprofits with between 50 and 15,000 employees to borrow between $250,000 and $300 million. The proposal is based on the Main Street loan program for for-profit employers and, as written, includes arbitrary terms that will disqualify most nonprofit organizations. Terms like: having a minimum of 50 employees, receiving no more than 30 percent of revenue from donations, and having at least three months cash on hand. Most importantly, the proposed loan program does not include a forgiveness option like the Payroll Protection Program.

We’ve been asked by our national umbrella, the National Council of Nonprofits, to please help improve the Federal Reserve’s loan program for nonprofits by using the attached template to craft and send comments. We believe it will only take you 15-20 minutes to review and adapt the template to your organization. The deadline to submit comments is today.

PPPP Act Introduced

Last week in the Senate and House, lawmakers introduced the Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program Act, a bill that would allow smaller PPP recipients, with significant losses due to COVID-19, to receive a second PPP loan. The borrowers must have 100 or fewer employees, and have suffered more than a 50 percent loss in revenues compared to a quarter in the previous year or another relevant period. They must have exhausted, or be on pace to exhaust, their first PPP loan and certify they need the funding to support ongoing operations for payroll and eligible non-payroll costs. The Senate bill, S.4014, was introduced by Senators Cardin (D-MD), Coons (D-DE), and Shaheen (D-NH). The House version is H.R. 7241, introduced by Representatives Craig (D-MN) and Delgado (D-NY).

SBA Lender Match Announced

The SBA announced Friday, June 19 the launch of a dedicated online tool for nonprofits and small businesses to be matched with Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), Certified Development Companies (CDCs), Farm Credit System lenders, Microlenders, as well as traditional smaller asset size lenders in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). 

Unemployment Insurance Legislation

A bipartisan group of 10 senior Senators introduced the Protecting Nonprofits from Catastrophic Cash Flow Strain Act (S. 4001) on June 18, a bill to correct the Labor Department interpretation requiring reimbursing employers to pay 100 percent of unemployment claims upfront and get reimbursed later. The primary sponsors of the bill are Senators Scott (R-SC), Brown (D-OH), Grassley (R-IA), and Wyden (D-OR), all members of the Senate Finance Committee, including the Chair and Ranking Member. The text of the bill is similar, but not identical, to the HEROES Act provision.

STATE

Business Interruption Compensation

S08319 (AKSHAR) would create a business interruption and municipal recovery program to provide grants through the empire state development corporation.

Commercial Tenant Rent Protection

A 10387(Epstein/S8473(Hoylman) would provide legal protections for failure to pay rent for nonprofit and small business tenants for during and six months after the state of emergency.