Congress Passes $2 Trillion CARES Act – Financial Support for Businesses and Individuals
Last Friday, Congress passed and President Trump signed the CARES Act, a $2 trillion effort to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the U.S. economy and assist in the public health response to the pandemic. Read the full text of the bill here. ACRA’s Greg Scott has prepared a very brief summary of the legislation. All ACRA members should talk with their legal counsel, accountants and financial institutions about opportunities to access CARES Act programs to support your business and employees during this challenging period.
Possible Additional Federal Legislation?
Congress may not be done in its legislative response to the pandemic. Discussions have already started regarding a fourth COVID-19 bill, including provisions that could direct targeted aid to specific industries. ACRA’s Board and Legal and Legislative Committee are engaged in discussions regarding ACRA’s goals for this legislation and will be communicating those goals to Capitol Hill and the Administration.
Updated “Essential Industries” Papers
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Saturday released an updated “essential infrastructure workforce” guidance document that specifically lists vehicle rentals as an essential business activity during the public health emergency. While this DHS document is not binding on other federal agencies or on state or local governments, it is an important tool to reference if government officials question your company’s continued operation during the pandemic. ACRA has updated its one-pager on essential business activities to reference the DHS guidance. Please feel free to use as needed.
ACRA Actions
- ACRA Letter to DOT/FAA
ACRA’s President, Bill Plamondon, sent the attached letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on Friday. The letter asks for Secretary Chao’s immediate and personal assistance for the car rental industry with respect to our industry’s contracts with airports – specifically with respect to “minimum annual guarantees” and rent abatement. - ACRA Participation in Auto Rental News Webinar on Pandemic and Global Car Rental Industry
Sharon Faulkner and Greg Scott of ACRA will be speakers during a webinar on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global car rental industry. The webinar will be on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 11 a.m. EDT. To register for the webinar (registration is free), go to https://www.autorentalnews.com/353986/auto-rental-news-to-host-webinar-on-coronavirus-pandemic.
That’s it for now. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Sharon (sfaulkner@acraorg.com) or Greg (gscott@merevir.com) if there are ways that ACRA can be of assistance to you.