• Medical Insurance Premiums for the Episcopal Medical Trust - For clergy and lay employees with health care insurance through the Medical Trust, there is a temporary implementation of a 90-day hardship grace period for those congregations which cannot make timely payments. The grace period will allow a delay of premiums through June 30, 2020.  While delay of payment is automatic, congregations may want to contact Client Services to inform them of a proposed payment schedule:  (800) 480-9967

• Property & Liability Insurance through Church Insurance of Vermont - For congregations with coverage through Church Insurance, a delay of premium payments for up to 3 months is available. Congregations will want to contact the billing department of Church Insurance to inform them directly of the need to delay payments: (800) 819-2984

• Pension Assessments to The Church Pension Fund: A waiver of up to two (2) months of assessment contributions may be available. Congregations requesting this waiver of assessment contributions must be able to substantiate that there are inadequate resources (including endowments) to pay assessments and continue to function. Bishop Perry will submit a waiver request on behalf of all of the congregations making the request. If you would like to have your congregation included in the request, please email Mark at mmiliotto@edomi.org no later than Monday, April 8, 2020.

• The Paycheck Protection Act (PPA) offers loans that may be forgiven under certain circumstances, intended to cover the expenses of compensation, group health care premiums, retirement benefits and sick/vacation leave for this period during the pandemic. Some of the basic features include:
• Loans granted up to 250% of average monthly payroll over last year
• Loan may be forgiven if the proceeds are used to pay your employees, at a level similar to previous months, over the first 8 weeks of the loan.
• Any amount not forgiven will become a 2 year loan at 0.5% with first payment deferred for 6 months.
• Loan is fully guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) – no collateral is required.
• Loans are issued by local banks, which will likely charge an origination fee of up to 5%.
• To learn more, visit the Small Business Administration website and their Paycheck Protection Program page
• Please note that this loan program is not the same as the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan. Acceptance into the non-forgivable economic injury loan program would preclude you from applying for the Payroll Protection Program loan.

• Unemployment Benefits for Church Workers: the CARES Act provides unemployment benefits to laid-off, furloughed or terminated church employees, who would normally not be eligible to receive unemployment benefits. While the State of Michigan is still working on the administration of these expanded unemployment benefits, more information can be found here on the State of Michigan website.
• Please note that as of the time of this writing, Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Activity states, “Do not apply at this time. Applications will be open in the next few days.” Look for updated guidance under the heading of “Self-Employed Workers, Gig Workers, 1099-Independent Contractors, and Low-Wage Workers.”