By Dennis Richardson
From what I read Congress may be in favor of a medium-sized stimulus package. Maybe much progress will be made between the deadline for this column and when the newspaper is printed.
Resources from the National Newspaper Association and blurbs on TV from interviews with some House members indicate that there may be bipartisan support for a $900 billion package to include extending unemployment benefits, help for small businesses hit hard because of COVID and a few other bells and whistles.
Any talk I have heard about another nice payout to every American below a certain wage level looks to be put on hold until after the Jan. 20 inauguration.
Any and all help for both the workforce and business will be much appreciated and extremely helpful.
Whether the deductibility of expenses used to offset the first PPP loans in the Spring is still up in the air. In my opinion the IRS should back off of its decision to disallow those deductions used in PPP forgiveness.
The payroll protection program Small Business Administration loans were a big help in keeping many in the workforce, but if those expenses are not allowed to offset business taxable income then it will be like a wash…and of little help, maybe even bring on catastrophic negative effects for businesses that had faith that the money would only to keep employees on the payroll. If they were not kept, then they would be on the unemployment rolls and add more to the government bills for a long time. It seemed like an ingenious idea at the time.
Also it is my opinion that small business is the backbone of our overall economy and that keeping businesses afloat creates not only more jobs but also infuses that money back into the economy. Shut them down and there’s no money for either owners or employees. Expand unemployment and discourage meaningful work is a recipe for disaster.
The next few weeks prior to the Christmas break will be interesting. I trust that now that the election is mostly settled that both sides will finally work together.
Stay turned to your national and community newspapers that are more important than ever.
News that affects our local communities will be reported fairly and accurately in the pages of your hometown newspapers. By the way, our newspapers are businesses too so why not subscribe today and talk to our sales reps about effective ways to advertise your business.
A survey was released today that said in our markets people’s radio and television time dropped from 5-10% while the time reading newspapers increased 50%.
Life is better with a (local) newspaper.
