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Prichard addresses small business owners in Facebook Live chat

  • Iowa House Minority Leader Todd Prichard (D-Charles City) held an online Facebook Live chat Friday morning to update small business owners in regard to the latest state and federal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Press photo James Grob.)

  • Iowa House Minority Leader Todd Prichard (D-Charles City) held an online Facebook Live chat Friday morning to update small business owners in regard to the latest state and federal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Press photo James Grob.)

  • Iowa House Minority Leader Todd Prichard (D-Charles City) held an online Facebook Live chat Friday morning to update small business owners in regard to the latest state and federal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Press photo James Grob.)

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Iowa House minority leader — and local small business owner — Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, held an online Facebook Live chat Friday morning to update small business owners regarding the latest state and federal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The live web broadcast was facilitated by Mark Wicks, director of the Charles City Area Chamber of Commerce, as Prichard explained what small business owners can expect from the government, went over the changes and recommendations for dealing with the novel coronavirus and answered questions.

A little over 100 viewers logged on for at least part of the broadcast.

“Make sure you are getting your information from reliable sources,” Prichard said. “We have seen a lot of attempts at scamming. Always be on guard for people who are trying to be fraudulent.”

Prichard said the state of Iowa has temporarily suspended penalties and interest on property taxes, temporarily suspended some evictions, permitted the sale of carryout delivery drive-through for alcohol unopened bottles for bars and restaurants, permitted public meetings by electronic means and suspended certain regulations regarding transportation of agricultural supplies and commodities, as well as pharmaceuticals and needed medicines.

“There’s a lot to take in here, and it changes hour-by-hour and day-by-day, so use the tools you have to stay abreast of what’s going on,” Prichard said.

Prichard said the Iowa Workforce Development web page now has a number of provisions dealing with emergency unemployment guidance for workers and employers.

“If you have an employee who you’ve had to lay off because of COVID-19, there is no charge to the employer’s unemployment account,” Prichard said. “The employer will not be charged, and they can get unemployment benefits. They expect that these payments will go out 7-10 days from the application.”

Some other rules have also been waived, particularly in regard to those who are self-employed, and Prichard directed people to the website for more information.

“Iowa does have a program — that I expect will be opened up — where you can claim unemployment benefits even if you are self-employed,” Prichard said.

Prichard said that federal and state filing deadlines for income tax have been extended two months. The federal tax deadline extension is July 15, and the state tax extension is July 31

“That should give you a little more time to get your filing in,” Prichard said. “Talk to your tax professional about the specifics of what is due when.”

Prichard said that in a proclamation issued Friday morning, Reynolds issued a property tax extension — for the duration of the COVID-19 disaster declaration, the state will not charge any interest or penalties for not paying property taxes.

That is something you may want to take advantage of, if that property tax bill is going to be a blow to your budget,” Prichard said.

Prichard talked about two federal stimulus measures that were passed last week by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Trump.

The first package, Prichard said, mostly deals with funding for health care issues, looking for vaccines and dealing with current medical and health care costs.

“This package also has a significant amount of money for small business loans,” Prichard said. “It authorizes about $7 billion in small business loans through the Small Business Administration.”

The second measure — called the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” does a lot of wide-ranging things, according to Prichard.

Prichard said the package includes some supplemental funding for nutrition programs across the country, “things like WIC and SNAP and school nutrition programs,” and it also deals with opening up funds and ensuring that more COVID-19 testing can be done, and covered by insurance.

Specifically for small businesses, Prichard said the measure has a paid leave provision, that applies to businesses with under 500 employees.

“It mandates that businesses allow for paid leave to employees affected by the coronavirus in some fashion,” Prichard said. “The good news about this provision is that the expense of this paid leave is reimbursable through a 100% refundable tax credit through payroll taxes.”

Prichard said the measure also included a grant to the states from the federal government for unemployment insurance, “to help states deal with the unemployment hit to their funds.”

A third federal plan was proposed in the U.S. Senate and is currently under consideration, although the specifics are still changing.

Prichard said that plan has a proposal for a $1,200 individual grant, directly to the taxpayer, for individuals who showed income under $75,000 on their 2018 tax return and $2,400 for married couples who earned under $150,000 on their 2018 taxes.

“As this legislation goes through the process, keep an eye on the provisions,” Prichard said. “The idea here is to help families boost their incomes so they can meet ongoing expenses.”

Prichard said that businesses realize their employees are their most valuable asset, and urged business owners to continue to look out for their safety.

“Make sure they are practicing social distancing. A lot of offices — my office, for instance — are closing their business to foot traffic,” Prichard said. “Strongly encourage employees who are sick, or if somebody in their household is not well, to not come into the office.”

Prichard said it was a good idea for business owners to find ways for employees to telecommute or work from home if possible, and if they have to be at work, help them to keep their workspace clean to help prevent spread of the virus.

“Check up on your people, ask them how they’re doing, check in with them if they’re working from home, to make sure they have what they need,” Prichard said.

Prichard encouraged people to go to the Small Business Administration website to find out what kind of programs are available. He said there were low-interest loans and grant opportunities available.

“I would advise you to keep an eye on that as these programs emerge and the rules are set as far as who is eligible,” he said.

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