Congress Looking To Boost Small
The U.S. Senate is trying to keep up with the ongoing economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and may move, as soon as tomorrow, to add an additional $250 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The PPP was created as part of the CARES Act and was originally allocated $350 billion to assist businesses in covering payroll and other expenses during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Many businesses, including New Jersey dealerships, have filed applications to take advantage of this VERY popular program.
The new legislation would boost the total funds available to $600 billion. NJ CAR will continue following this issue and report as new information becomes available.
New Jersey will extend the state income and corporation business tax filing deadlines to July 15th. The federal government had previously extended the federal tax filing deadline from April 15th to July 15th and New Jersey has now followed suit.
The State budget deadline, which is typically June 30th, has also been extended to September 30th. This will allow the Administration to focus on leading New Jersey out of the current crisis and allow more time to determine the full extent of the financial disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and how best to address them in the next budget year.
Governor Murphy has been appreciative of the $2 trillion stimulus signed into law last week, but has signaled that more was needed for states, like New Jersey, to deal with the ongoing crisis. He has urged Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to push for an elimination of the cap on state and local tax deductions as part of any forthcoming stimulus package and has also suggested that any new stimulus include dedicated aid for workers and businesses hurt by the pandemic as well as “flexible aid for states who’ve borne the brunt of this virus,” such as New Jersey.
The Legislature has passed several bills aimed at helping workers and businesses navigate the economic challenges presented by the pandemic. There have also been calls from some legislators, including Senate President Steve Sweeney, to consider other actions to provide further assistance to New Jersey residents and businesses including a two-month holiday from the state sales tax, a suspension of payroll taxes and deferred property tax payments.
Faced with more than 44,000 positive COVID-19 diagnoses and 1,232 deaths due to the virus through April 7th, Governor Phil Murphy has signed Executive Oder 119, which extends the public health emergency order issued on March 9th for another 30 days.
He also signed Executive Order 118, which closes all State and county parks for social distancing reasons, but allowing individual municipalities to decide whether to open or close municipal parks.
Governor Murphy also reported that he has had discussions with the governors of New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania concerning regional approaches to COVID-19 testing and tracking, and eventually re-opening businesses. The governors also discussed how to best mobile resources when a future pandemic threatens the Northeast.