Coronavirus update for 9.15.2020 – Governor Announces Grant Round 2 and What’s New in DC

Chamber Members:

Governor Pritzker today made an announcement of Business Interruption Grant round #2 and state government cuts on the horizon. The return to work in Washington D.C. has not come quietly, as both sides seems to be digging in on how to handle the possibility of finally getting something done or even talking again before the elections. See below for more information, as well as information on a few more topics of interest today.


*Daily Coronavirus update brought to you by Silver Cross Hospital

Governor Pritzker Announces 2nd Round of Business Interruption Grants
Governor Pritzker joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today in the Bronzeville community to announce the latest in a series of grants made available for small businesses in Illinois suffering losses as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as well as communities impacted by the recent civil unrest. Applications for the second round of the Business Interruption Grants (BIG) program will be made available this Thursday afternoon (September 17th) and will offer $220 million in funds for small businesses hit hardest by the ongoing pandemic.

The Governor also announced applications for the new Rebuild Distressed Communities (RDC) program will become available in the coming weeks. This program will provide $25 million in funding to cover the cost of civil-unrest related repairs while also supporting new investments in economically distressed communities across Illinois.

BIG continues to prioritize equity by setting aside a substantial portion of funds for businesses located in economically vulnerable communities. The second round of BIG builds on over $49 million in grants awarded just last month – with initial grants allocated to approximately 2,800 businesses in 400 communities in every corner of the state. Application information for the second round of funds and can be found on DCEO’s website at Illinois.gov/dceo and the application form will open for submissions later this week.

The second wave of funds from BIG aims to provide relief for all types of small businesses, with a focus on businesses located downstate or in disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs). The latest wave of funding includes the following provisions to ensure a wide distribution of funds geographically and across business type:

• Heavily Impacted Industries – $60 million for heavily distressed industries, such as movie theatres, performing arts venues, concert venues, indoor recreation, amusement parks, event spaces located at banquet halls and hotels, and more.
• Disproportionately Impacted Areas – $70 million set aside for DIAs, defined by zip codes identified by the General Assembly for communities that are most economically distressed and vulnerable to COVID-19.  A map of DIAs can be accessed here.
• Downstate Communities – DCEO has committed to ensuring that at least half of all remaining funds, totaling more than $100 million, are reserved for businesses in downstate and rural communities of Illinois.
• Priority Businesses – Apart from the $60 million for heavily impacted industries, applications from the following types of businesses will be prioritized for review for remaining funds:  businesses directly affected by regional mitigations implemented by the state or local governments, independently owned retail, tourism- and hospitality-related industries including accommodations, and more.
• Agriculture – $5 million of the remainder of funds will be set aside for livestock production disruptions.
• Grants and Loan Forgiveness for Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan recipients – As authorized by the General Assembly, DCEO will offer grants for businesses that have incurred eligible costs to offset loans received under the Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan program. This round of loan forgiveness and grants will go to businesses that have received loans or remain on the wait list and the program will sunset going forward as DCEO and its partners focus on making BIG awards.

While these priority areas are part of the program, the BIG program is open to all eligible businesses (for profit and nonprofit) with $20 million or less in annual revenue in 2019 and experienced losses due to COVID-19.  Businesses outside the categories listed above are also eligible to apply and receive funding under the program but may be reviewed later than priority businesses. All businesses will receive a decision on their grant application within four to six weeks of application submission.

The grant size will be equivalent to two months of expenses.  DCEO will be hosting a series of webinars regarding this program.  You can register for any of the webinars by using the links below:

HOW TO APPLY:   We will begin accepting applications for the second round of BIG on the afternoon of Thursday, September 17. Please return here for a link to the application. To help you prepare for your application, see below a preliminary application and checklist.

ROUND 2 APPLICATION DETAILS:

Earlier this year, DCEO issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity and has identified a qualified administrator to disburse the remaining funds for BIG throughout the rest of the year. Working with administrators Accion and the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC), the department will take a tailored approach to processing grants in this round. Grants will range from $5,000 to $150,000, commensurate with revenue losses incurred and business size.

Eligible businesses will include for-profit and nonprofit entities with $20 million or less in annual revenue in 2019 (annualized for businesses that started after January 2019). All businesses that receive a BIG award must have experienced losses due to COVID-19 that exceed the size of the award.

*See attached PDF for program recap

15 Days Until a Government Shutdown and 49 Days Until the Election
These are two particularly important dates to remember as time goes on for what is happening (or not) in DC. Congress certainly needs to balance both the shutdown and potential federal aid in the coming weeks.

It appears that they have put together a package to fund the government to avoid an election-season shutdown on September 30. In addition, as we mentioned yesterday, there is a growing clutch of anxious House Democrats who are agitating for further votes on Covid relief.

Most people involved in legislating do not expect a government shutdown. Nor do they expect anything resembling a Covid relief bill to reach President Trump’s desk before Election Day.
So that leaves us with a couple of scenarios to explore:

1) Extend government funding to sometime in December. This would make the most sense. The upside – A mid-December expiration would give a tad bit of post-election breathing room for lawmakers. It would also give Congress a chance to try for some more Covid relief this calendar year with a cudgel to force action. The downside – If the election is undecided, lawmakers may be hesitant to engage in big-ticket legislating.

2) Congress could extend funding until February. But that’s a long time to wait for another deadline to force through Covid relief. (Of course, Covid relief can move without a funding deadline.)

Congress could just pass a full year of government funding and more Covid relief, but again that is not likely to happen any time soon.

Update on Growing Number of Frustrated House Democrats
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House will remain in session until the parties have an agreement on another round of emergency coronavirus relief.

In a conference call with the House Democratic Caucus — the first since the chamber returned from a long summer recess — Pelosi indicated she isn’t willing to accept a “skinny” legislative package, but told her troops the chamber’s calendar will be extended until an agreement is sealed, according to sources on the call.

The surprise development reflects both the severity of the public health and economic crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the growing pressure Pelosi is facing from the moderate wing of her party, which is clamoring for leadership to vote on another aid package before Congress leaves town again for the elections. The practical effects of the announcement, however, will likely be slight.

An expanding list of lawmakers are communicating to their leadership that they are awfully frustrated. They don’t like that Covid relief talks have broken down and that the two sides aren’t talking at all. The House passed the Heroes Act four months ago, and these Democrats are suggesting to their party’s brass that they need something new to talk about on the campaign trail and blaming Senate Majority Leader McConnell isn’t enough. They simply can’t go home for the election without additional votes.

There seems to be three routes that the House Democrats can go in:
1) They can do nothing, which doesn’t really appear to be much of an option at the moment.
2) They can vote on an altered version of the Heroes Act. This will be difficult for the Dems to pass. The price tag is high, and everyone will push for their policies to be included in the bill.
3) This option seems to make the most sense: The leadership could put up some votes on individual policies: enhanced unemployment, a bulked-up testing program and an extension of the Paycheck Protection Program.

The House Problem Solvers Caucus has quietly been working on a plan that has attracted some interest from both sides of the aisle. The group, co-chaired by Reps. Gottheimer and Reed, has also been in touch with the White House. They plan to release some sort of Covid relief bill with the support of several dozen lawmakers from both parties. We’re hearing that they will negotiate against Speaker Pelosi and drop the Democrats state-and-local offer which was at $900 billion. This could be a nice way for lawmakers to support a new plan, though it’s tough to see enough Democrats and Republicans jumping on with this to move the needle.

If Covid relief talks ever restart, remember that one of the main sticking points is that of state-and-local money. Dems want nearly $1 trillion, and the White House wants something in the range of $100 billion to $200 billion. Democrats won’t likely abandon this. Republicans are already complaining that Democrats want a “clean” bill, a simple extension of funding without extraneous policies, but are privately pushing for some Covid relief in the bill.

100,000 Restaurants Closed Six Months into Pandemic
Six months following the first shutdown of restaurants, the industry is in limbo. According to a new survey released by the National Restaurant Association, nearly 1 in 6 restaurants (representing nearly 100,000 restaurants) is closed either permanently or long-term; nearly 3 million employees are still out of work; and the industry is on track to lose $240 billion in sales by the end of the year.

National findings include:

  • Consumer spending in restaurants remained well below normal levels in August. Sales were down 34% on average.
  • Research estimates at least 100,000 restaurants will close in 2020.
  • 60% of operators say their restaurants’ total operational costs (as a % of sales) are higher than they were prior to the pandemic.

State findings from Illinois include:

  • Seventy-eight percent of Illinois operators say they don’t expect their restaurant’s sales to return to pre-coronavirus levels within the next six months.
  • Fifty-five percent of Illinois operators say it is unlikely their restaurant will still be in business six months from now, if business conditions continue at current levels.
  • Sixty-six percent of operators say it is unlikely their restaurant will still be in business six months from now if there are no additional relief packages from the federal government.
  • Overall, 63 percent of Illinois restaurant operators do not expect their staffing levels to return to pre-coronavirus levels within the next six months.

Finally, the African American Business Association invites all to join their video conference this Thursday, September 17th at 11 AM as they’ll be hearing about the open Will County Small Business Assistance Grant Program. Will County has earmarked more than $24 million for a Small Business Assistance Grant Program to provide financial assistance to small businesses impacted by COVID-19 so they can maintain operations. Selected businesses may receive up to $15,000 in grant assistance.

Register here: http://jolietchamber.chambermaster.com/events/details/2020-aaba-video-conference-will-county-15-000-grant-info-5954

Stay well,

Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry Staff and Board of Directors

Mike Paone
Vice President – Government Affairs
Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry
mpaone@jolietchamber.com
815.727.5371 main
815.727.5373 direct