Race to open….kind of

A few states have provided guidance on how they will be reopening their economies.  In Pennsylvania, Governor Wolf set May 8^th as a target date for regional reopening, but did not provide many details as to what that meant.  In New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the Governors are talking about lifting the lock down provisions in June.  Georgia and Tennessee have both decided to lift the stay at home orders on April 30^th.  Like anything else, I think once the economies get rolling, it will hopefully be tough to stop.

In other news, it looks like a $470B Phase 3.5 stimulus package is close to being finalized.  Stay tuned…this will only get more interesting.

A few things that I think may be relevant or important for you to know:

• NCCI Waives Workers Comp Premium Payment – The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) announced today that it waived the payment of WC premiums for businesses that are still paying employees who are not working.  This decision will be filed with the regulators of the 36 States that follow NCCI guidelines.  Thanks to Rudy Kocman of Kocman Insurance Group (Rudy@kigyork.com) for sharing.
• Bankruptcy – Not the preferred option, but something to understand:  Under the CARES Act,  the debt limit to qualify to be a debtor has been increased to $7,500,000 for the next year, up from $2,725,625.   Moreover, small businesses can go through reorganization in Chapter 11 within months (instead of years), with it costing much less.  Please check out the attached overviews for debtors and creditors from Rob Bovarnick (RBovarnick@rbovarnick.com), a seasoned business and bankruptcy attorney.
• Upcoming Webinars and Helpful Resources
  • RKL Weekly Coronavirus Webinar Series (Fridays):  Here is the link for the upcoming and prior webinars.  Also, check out the overview of their PPP Loan Forgiveness Cash Flow Forecast.
  • Stambaugh Ness Town Hall (Tuesdays 2-4pm):  Here is the link for the webinar registration
  • National Small Business Town Hall presented by Inc.com and the US Chamber of Commerce (4/24 @ 12pm) Here is the registration link.
  • What Plan Sponsors Need To Know About The CARES Act.  This article, provided by Brian Shannon  from ClearSage Advisory Group (Brian.Shannon@ClearSageAdvisoryGroup.com), gives a good overview of your options for accessing retirement funds as another source of capital.

Please see all of our prior updates at the this link.  

As always, please don’t hesitate to email myself, Andy Miller (amiller@mpl-law.com), Christian Miller (cmiller@mpl-law.com) or anyone in our office with questions or comments.