Dear Neighbor,

I hope you are doing well and staying safe in this unprecedented, challenging, and constantly-changing situation.

Thanks to all of you who have contacted our office with your concerns for yourselves and for others.  You’re telling us about hundreds of problems that need solutions, both to prevent the spread of the virus and to prevent economic collapse for individuals, businesses, and the whole economy.

The State House is closed, but my staff and I are meeting with colleagues, agencies and constituents, working on legislation, seeking solutions.  We have daily virtual meetings of the Economic Recovery Subgroup of the Senate, of which I’m a member.  Most other legislation is taking a back seat to the virus.

Since we're all flooded with hourly information, this newsletter will be only about unemployment, paid sick leave and small businesses.

The first priority is obviously slowing the spread of the virus, even if this causes problems for individuals and businesses.  But the next and very high priority is the immediate economic survival of those people and businesses.  

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE: STATE ACTION

In Massachusetts, 20,000 people filed for unemployment benefits on Monday, more than in the whole previous month.  
 

Last Wednesday, the Mass. legislature passed and the governor signed a bill to eliminate the 1-week waiting period for Unemployment Insurance. The requirement of actively searching for a new job has been suspended.  You can apply online. To help with increased demand, the Department of Labor will hold virtual town hall meetings to take people through the process of filing successful unemployment claims and answer questions.

The first virtual town hall will be held Sunday, March 22, at 3:30pm. Sign up here. A Spanish language town hall will be held on Tuesday at 9am; town halls in other languages will be held soon.

UNEMPLOYMENT: MORE STATE ACTION NEEDED

I hope the legislature will quickly expand the benefit period for Unemployment Insurance from 26 weeks.  It was 30 weeks until a state law triggered a reduction in weeks due to low unemployment. I’ve filed a bill with Cambridge Rep. Dave Rogers to increase the number of weeks during this crisis to 39 weeks.  It would be retroactive, since many people are getting to the end of their benefits with little chance of finding a new job. The bill would also increase wage replacement from 50% to 75% of previous weekly earnings.  For many people, losing half their income can prevent meeting their rent, let alone their food and other expenses.

Some people worry about exhausting the balance ($1.6b in January) in the Unemployment Trust Fund; I’m much more worried about exhausting our constituents’ funds.  We will be able to borrow federal funds if the Trust Fund runs out and pay them back with 0% interest.  

I am working to find ways to help those who aren’t eligible for Unemployment Insurance: people in the gig economy, independent contractors, artists. 

UNEMPLOYMENT: FEDERAL ACTION

We are waiting for news about what the federal government will do to expand unemployment benefits; negotiations are going on this weekend.

If the President declares a FEMA emergency, it will make it possible to expand Unemployment Insurance to people who are currently not part of the system: gig workers, independent contractors, artists, etc.

ASSISTANCE FOR THOSE WITHOUT UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

I am particularly concerned for tipped workers, gig economy workers, independent contractors, and artists, including folks who are undocumented, who might not be covered by Unemployment Insurance. For restaurant servers, there is an Emergency Fund set up by One Fair Wage for restaurant workers. Cambridge has a Virtual Tip Jar. The Greg Hill Foundation and Sam Adams have developed a fund for restaurant workers in Massachusetts. All of those welcome donations and applications for assistance. There's a USBG fund for bartenders. And of course, you can consider ordering takeout from local restaurants and remembering to tip!
 

The Mass Cultural Council wants to hear from as many artists as they can to get a good grasp on how to support the artist community. Fill out this form to let MCC know what help you need.

PAID SICK LEAVE: FEDERAL ACTION

On Thursday, Pres. Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which establishes a federal emergency paid-leave benefits program for some employees.

It requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide two weeks' worth of paid sick leave if employees are unable to work because they're subject to quarantine or isolation, are experiencing symptoms of COVID–19, are caring for someone who is in quarantine or isolation and/or have children in schools that have closed.

Employers may first require the employee take 10 days of unpaid leave, which the employee may substitute with accrued vacation, personal, or medical or sick leave. Thereafter, the employee can take up to 10 weeks of paid leave. The employer must pay the employee at not less than ⅔ the regular rate of pay, but no more than $200 a day or $10,000 total.

Employers will receive tax credits to offset the costs of providing this paid leave.  For those who are self-employed, there will be a tax credit equivalent to the sick leave amount.

SMALL BUSINESS

The state's newly-established $10 million small business recovery loan fund was exhausted within a few days.  Next week, Massachusetts will approve a new $10 million fund, which will provide emergency capital up to $75,000 to Massachusetts businesses impacted by COVID-19 with under 50 full and part-time employees, including nonprofits. No payments will be due for the first 6 months. 

Meanwhile the federal government is offering Economic Injury Disaster loans. The interest rate is 3.75 percent for small businesses. For non-profit organizations it's 2.75 percent. SBA offers loans with long-term repayments in order to keep payments affordable, up to a maximum of 30 years.   You can apply online and get additional information.

Finally, the governor announced tax relief measures for small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, especially in the restaurant and hospitality sectors. Regular sales tax, meals tax, and room occupancy taxes that would be due in March, April and May will instead be due on June 20. All penalties and interest that would otherwise apply will be waived.

There's so much information, constantly evolving.  To keep up with government actions, a good resource is Senate President Karen Spilka's page.

I'll write more soon.  Let me know what you'd like most to hear about, and what you think we should prioritize.

Stay safe, stay well, and stay in touch,