Dear Clients and Friends,
Below please find the ninth edition of Stearns Weaver Miller's COVID-19 Legal Compass, highlighting government updates, alerts on critical topics, and resources to help you navigate and adapt to this rapidly changing environment.
All actions described below have been ordered or updated between May 15, 2020 and May 21, 2020. We have done our best to include significant, timely information, although new orders and actions are being introduced continuously.
View a comprehensive listing of the government actions pertaining to COVID-19 that we have collected to date.
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RECENT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ACTIONS
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Changes to Payment Protection Program ("PPP")
: The PPP has $100 billion remaining to be disbursed from the last infusion of funds passed by Congress. The House plans to consider the Payment Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, which is legislation that would provide more flexibility in how money from the PPP is used by small businesses. The legislation would allow forgiveness for expenses beyond the 8-week covered period, remove restrictions limiting non-payroll expenses to 25% of loan funds and limiting loan terms to two years, ensure full access to payroll tax deferment for businesses that take PPP loans, and extend the rehiring deadline to June 30, 2020 to offset the effect of enhanced unemployment insurance that passed as part of the CARES Act. The Senate introduced its own legislation that would extend the term that businesses must spend PPP funds on payroll from eight weeks to sixteen weeks to accommodate small businesses that are only now re-opening, allow businesses greater flexibility in how PPP funds are used, and extend the deadline for applying for a PPP loan. The Senate failed to pass the bill through unanimous consent but may try again during their scheduled pro forma sessions on May 22, 2020 and the week of May 25, 2020.
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SBA Releases PPP Loan Forgiveness Application
: The SBA
released the PPP Loan Forgiveness Application, along with detailed instructions for the application, consistent with the CARES Act. The SBA will also soon issue regulations and guidance to further assist borrowers as they complete their applications, and to provide lenders with guidance on their responsibilities.
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Executive Order on Regulatory Relief
: In addition to the ongoing economic assistance, the President signed an
Executive Order
("EO") on May 19, 2020 to reduce the regulatory burden on Americans as the economy reopens. Among its forms of ordered relief, the heads of all agencies shall identify regulatory standards that may inhibit economic recovery. Once identified, the agencies are to temporarily or permanently rescind, modify, waive, or exempt persons or entities from those requirements, and to consider exercising appropriate temporary enforcement discretion or appropriate temporary extensions of time as provided for in enforceable agreements with respect to those requirements, for the purpose of promoting job creation and economic growth. Although the EO grants broad authority to the agencies to assist, all agency actions shall remain in accordance with law and the EO stated policy in its first section.
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RECENT STATE OF FLORIDA GOVERNMENT ACTIONS
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Youth Activities: Governor Ron DeSantis announced that all state-issued restrictions on youth activities due to COVID-19, which includes summer camps and youth sports, will be lifted, effective immediately. Click for more.
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Association Emergency Powers to End: As of June 1, 2020 emergency powers and a tolling of financial requirements will end for condominium, cooperative, and homeowner associations. Additionally, public health officials will no longer be identified as emergency management officials. Click for more.
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Delayed Elections Rescheduled: Elections in Dade City and San Antonio that were delayed due to COVID-19 have been scheduled to take place on June 30, 2020. Click for more.
View an easy-to-read matrix of the Florida government agency orders that we have collected to date. Highlighted actions are new (May 15-21) since last issue.
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RECENT COUNTY AND CITY GOVERNMENT ACTIONS
Our
comprehensive listing
includes the latest updates on the actions of 59 local governments throughout the state of Florida, as well as permitting information and a virtual meetings database. Grouped by region and with an easy-to-navigate table of contents, the listing is filled with links to, and digestible bullet points of, each government's orders, organized by date.
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| Photo Source - Florida's COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard, Florida Department of Health, Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, May 21, 2020 |
LOCAL GOVERNMENT REOPENING PROCESS CONTINUES
Local governments are following the State's lead in following the Governor's Executive Order 20-112 (Phase 1: Safe. Smart. Step-by-Step. Plan for Florida's Recovery), particularly with the reopening of vacation rentals. Vacation rental reopening plans are required to receive approval from the State. Many gulf coast counties have sought and obtained approval for their vacation rental reopening plans from the State, thereby allowing rentals to resume.
Local governments continue to meet virtually and are finding ways to host virtual quasi-judicial meetings as well. Our
comprehensive listing
includes a virtual meeting database, as well as the latest update on Local Government Actions.
On April 22nd, our team presented a webinar wherein we discussed the practical and legal challenges presented in a virtual land use public hearing and the best practices to proceed in these virtual times. You can view the webinar here!
If you have questions about a local government order or an upcoming virtual public hearing,
email
us.
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