New Pressing Information for ACEC California Members - COVID-19 Related
- Virtual Happy Hour Sponsored by Federal PAC - FREE WEBINAR - Speak with National Advocates about what the Federal Stimulus Package Means for Your Businesses - April 2nd, 2020
- Assistance for Small Businesses
- New order from San Francisco Bay Area
These are challenging times, given the COVID-19 crisis. Our
ACEC California Federal PAC
Committee is h
osting a virtual
HAPPY HOUR
with our ACEC National advocates featuring Steve Hall (Senior Vice President for Advocacy), Katharine Mottley(Vice President for Tax and Regulatory Affairs),
and Matt Reiffer, Vice President for Transportation Programs) from 5:00
-6:00 pm PST on Thursday, April 2nd. This is a conversation with our national advocates about the recently passed federal stimulus package,
CARES Act
. We encourage you to listen in advance to this
14-minute podcast
with Steve Hall, and then join us for this virtual
HAPPY HOUR
where our advocates will elaborate on the subject and allow questions from our membership. Here is a
summary
of that legislation.
Login Instructions
(We recommend logging in 30 minutes in advance in case you need to troubleshoot.):
- First time using WebEx? Follow these browser-specific instructions to install the WebEx plug-in
- Open this link: https://secure.icohere.com/ACECWebinars?pnum=LUZ68532
- On the next page type:
- your first and last name
- your email address
- Select “CLICK HERE TO ENTER PRESENTATION”
- Computer Audio and Phone Dial-in choices are presented when you enter the meeting.
Troubleshooting Tips:
- For assistance joining or participating in this webinar, please contact WebEx support at 1-866-229-3239. You will need to provide the following information
- WebEx Site: icohere.WebEx.com
- WebEx Session ID: found in the support window that opens up on the right of the screen when you log into the online class
Please check out the
Federal PAC Spring Sweepstakes
. As we continue to practice safe social distancing, business must continue, so must our efforts to raise funds for our Federal PAC. Your consideration is greatly appreciated.
Assistance For Small Businesses
Related to this, today the White House released the following information regarding the small business assistance program under the Paycheck Protection Act, which is part of the CARES Act signed into law last Friday. We urge those that qualify to contact their lenders as soon as possible to start the application process.
ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
The Paycheck Protection Program prioritizes millions of Americans employed by small businesses by authorizing up to $349 billion toward job retention and certain other expenses. Small businesses and eligible nonprofit organizations, Veterans organizations, and Tribal businesses described in the Small Business Act, as well as individuals who are self-employed or are independent contractors, are eligible if they also meet program size standards.
In th
e case of engineering firms, firms with fewer than 500 employees would qualify.
- A top-line overview of the program can be found HERE
- Lender information can be found HERE
- Borrower information can be found HERE
- The application for borrowers can be found HERE
New Order from San Francisco Bay Area
The Bay Area counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara issued a stricter stay-at-home order that will be in effect from 11:59pm tonight (March 31) through 11:59pm, May 3.
The new order is more restrictive than both the state and federal orders and limits the exemption for construction and construction-related services to those specifically named. Public agencies additionally will have to designate their public works projects as essential for workers to avoid the stay-at-home order. A summary, full text of the order, and FAQs can be found
here
.
ACEC California is seeking further clarification, however, exemptions are case-specific, so we recommend contacting your client(s) if there are additional questions about the applicability of the order to your project.
