The Foraker Group

Posted Under: Advocacy COVID

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Congress is moving quickly to draft a fourth economic stimulus bill that will expand on the CARES Act that was enacted in late March.

We have been pleased that the original CARES Act included the nonprofit sector – a first in federal relief legislation. However, according to our partner the National Council of Nonprofits, many implementation challenges have arisen with federal agencies and private entities that undermine the intent of the law to provide economic relief for nonprofits.

Negotiations on the new legislation are going on right now. While the Council is working the issue with congressional leaders in Washington D.C., Foraker has been talking with the Alaska delegation about including certain provisions to benefit nonprofits. Those include:

1. Expanding access to credit by designating funding exclusively for nonprofits within the two principal loan programs of the CARES Act – the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Mid-Size Business Loan Program
2. Strengthening charitable giving incentives to encourage all Americans to help their communities through charitable donations during these challenging times
3. Increasing the reimbursement from 50% to 100% for nonprofits who self-insure their unemployment benefits to be on parity with employers participating in the state unemployment program
4. Increasing emergency funding by appropriating funds for targeted state formula grants and programs that can provide a rapid infusion of cash to nonprofit organizations that are partnering with state and local governments to protect vulnerable families and frontline responders

You can read more about these provisions here.

Although Congress is currently in recess, lawmakers will return in May and take up the new CARES legislation. You can contact our delegation and register your support on their websites.

• Senator Lisa Murkowski’s webpage
• Senator Dan Sullivan’s webpage
• Congressman Don Young’s webpage

We also encourage you to sign-up for bulletins from the National Council of Nonprofits. Council staff in Washington D.C. are on the front line advocating for nonprofits and sharing information as they receive it.