Today’s federal government actions in response to COVID-19, includes House passage of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. President Trump is expected to sign the bill as soon as tonight.

Congress

This evening, by a vote of 388-5, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan $484 billion “interim emergency” relief package known as the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act

• The bill contains $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (with $60 billion in set-asides for smaller lenders), $60 billion for the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) / grant program, $75 billion for hospital and healthcare providers, and $25 billion for testing

President Trump has indicated he will sign the bill as soon as this evening.

The House also voted 212-182 to establish a Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis as an investigative subcommittee of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Talks on a subsequent relief / recovery package are already underway, although action is not expected until next month; both chambers are in recess until May 4.

Recent Congressional Statements / Letters

• House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Neal Floor Remarks on Emergency Interim Funding Package, highlights priorities for future legislation, April 23, 2020
• House Energy and Commerce Committee Democratic Leaders: Halting WHO Funding is Dangerous, Irresponsible and Undermines the Pandemic Response Around the World, April 23, 2020
• House Energy and Commerce Committee GOP: Bipartisan Bills to Improve the Strategic National Stockpile, April 23, 2020
• House Agriculture Committee Chairman Peterson Urges Pence, Coronavirus Task Force to Address Challenge facing Hog Farmers, April 23, 2020
• New Democrat Coalition Members Send Letter to Federal Agencies to Stabilize the Mortgage Market During COVID-19, April 23, 2020
• Congresswoman Shalala Urges Protection of Property Service Workers in Coronavirus Relief Legislation, April 22, 2020
• Rural America and COVID-19: Small Towns and Rural Communities are at High Risk, Senate Democratic Policy & Communications Committee Report, April 23, 2020
• Bipartisan Senate Letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Urging Extension of PTC / ITC Continuity Safe Harbor, April 23, 2020

Agency Activity

White House

• Proclamation Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak, April 22, 2020
  
  Related: White House Fact Sheet on 60 day suspension; including: “President Trump is also asking his Administration to review guest worker programs to assess whether additional measures should be taken to protect American workers”
  
  Related: State Department news release, April 23, 2020

Department of the Treasury

• Update to the Department’s PPP FAQs, addressing the qualification of “businesses owned by large companies with adequate sources of liquidity” for PPP loans (see Question 31); April 23, 2020

Department of Labor

• Tucson, Arizona, Company to Pay Back Wages After Denying Paid Sick Leave To Worker Whose Doctor Ordered Coronavirus Quarantine, April 23, 2020

Department of Health and Human Services

• COVID-19 Workforce Virtual Toolkit: Resources for Healthcare Decision-Makers Responding to COVID-19 Workforce Concerns
• HHS Announces Additional Allocations of CARES Act Provider Relief Fund, April 22, 2020
• HHS Announces CARES Act Funding Distribution to States and Localities in Support of COVID-19 Response, April 23, 2020

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

• Trump Administration Releases COVID-19 Telehealth Toolkit to Accelerate State Use of Telehealth in Medicaid and CHIP, April 23, 2020

Food and Drug Administration

• Update: Court Grants FDA’s Request for Extension of Premarket Review Submission Deadline for Certain Tobacco Products Because of Impacts from COVID-19, April 23, 2020
• Enforcement Policy for Imaging Systems During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency: Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff, April 23, 2020
• Enforcement Policy for Non-Invasive Fetal and Maternal Monitoring Devices Used to Support Patient Monitoring During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency: Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff, April 23, 2020

Department of Energy

• COVID-19 Energy Sector Response Efforts and Frequently Asked Questions (UPDATED), April 22, 2020

Environmental Protection Agency

• EPA provides critical information to the American public about safe disinfectant use, April 23, 2020
• U.S. EPA calls on Bay Area-based tech giants to address fraudulent COVD-19 disinfectants, April 23, 2020
• U.S. EPA and CBP Act to Protect the Public from Unregistered “Virus Shut Out” Product Imported into California, April 23, 2020

Department of Education

• Secretary DeVos Makes Available Over $13 Billion in Emergency Coronavirus Relief to Support Continued Education for K-12 Students, April 23, 2020

Securities and Exchange Commission

• Staff Guidance: New Frequently Asked Questions Concerning the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Broker-Dealer Financial Responsibility Rules, April 22, 2020

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

• CFTC Provides Further Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID-19, April 23, 2020
• Opening Statement of Chairman Heath P. Tarbert Before the April 22 Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting, April 22, 2020

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• Treatment of Pandemic Relief Payments under Regulation E and Application of the Compulsory Use Prohibition, Interpretive Rule (prepublication draft), April 23, 2020

Federal Trade Commission

• FTC Sends 21 Letters Warning Marketers to Stop Making Unsupported Claims That Their Products and Therapies Can Effectively Treat Coronavirus, April 23, 2020

Federal Communications Commission

• FCC Approves Third Set of COVID-19 Telehealth Program Applications, April 23, 2020

Federal Reserve

Federal Reserve Board outlines the extensive and timely public information it will make available regarding its programs to support the flow of credit to households and businesses and thereby foster economic recovery, April 23, 2020

State / Local Activity

Given the plethora of state and local actions, we recommend MultiState’s COVID-19 Policy Tracker as a comprehensive tool to monitor the response

[View source.]