CARES Act stimulus program for businesses, nonprofits

The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act recently passed by Congress includes funding for businesses and nonprofits. The following information was provided by Assemblymember Patricia Fahy and Congressman Paul Tonko.

There are three loan programs that nonprofits are eligible for in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

The first is the Paycheck Protection Program, which will provide emergency loans of up to $10 million for charitable nonprofits and small businesses with 500 or fewer employees. These loans can be used to cover the cost of payroll, health and retirement benefits, facilities, and debt service. And if the recipient maintains its staffing level for eight weeks, the organization will have its loans entirely or partially forgiven. This essentially turns the loan into a grant. This program does not have a provision excluding nonprofits eligible for Medicaid payments from participating, which was in a previous version of the bill. Click here to view participating lendors in the Capital Region and click here for more information on the Paycheck Protection Program.

The law also expands and removes creditworthiness requirements for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Nonprofits participating in the program will be able to get checks of $10,000 within three days. However, they cannot receive loans from both this program and the Paycheck Protection Program.

Larger nonprofits with between 500 and 10,000 employees will be able to apply for other industry stabilization loans, though these aren’t eligible for loan forgiveness. Nonprofits accessing these loans also must retain at least 90% of their staff with full compensation and benefits until the end of September. But interest on these loans would be capped at 2%, and no interest or repayments would apply during the first six months. Read more here.