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Advocacy Update: Virtually network with Senators, what to do when someone tests positive

December 4, 2020

With cases on the rise and restrictions still high, it’s a difficult time for everyone, however, we have some news this week that will help put all of that in perspective and show that there might be an end in sight. In the meantime, stay home when you can and exercise vigilance to help mitigate the spread of the virus and keep businesses open. 

In this week’s update:

Network With Your Chittenden County Senators Thursday 

LCC is looking to keep you informed ahead of the next legislative session with a virtual legislative reception on Thursday, December 10th at 3:00 pm. We look forward to providing breakout rooms where small groups can connect and share with newly elected Chittenden County Senators. Learn more about the Senators attending here. Special thanks to our event sponsor, AT&T.

Economic Recovery Grants on Their Way 

If you successfully applied for an Economic Recovery Grant through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development or the Department of Taxes, your check should be in the mail, or at least will be in the next few days. If the status says that it is incomplete, you will have until December 7th to rectify any issues. 

So, how much will you be receiving? Good news, thanks to an enormous amount of work from everyone in the business community, if you filed for the grant under the NAICS code 72, which covers hospitality businesses such as restaurants and lodging, you will receive 100% of your demonstrated need up to the cap of total grant awards of $300,000 between the two grants allocations. For all other businesses, you can expect to see about 33% of your demonstrated need, subject to the same cap (for example, if you demonstrated $625,000 in need you could receive $300,000 and if you demonstrated 250,000 in need you could receive $125,000). Without the additional $75 million that the Joint Fiscal Committee reappropriated to the program, all grant recipients would only have received even less of their demonstrated need. 

Finally, as you may know, or expect, not everything that LCC’s advocacy team does is broadcast on a day-to-day or weekly basis. This fall, our team spent a significant amount of time in discussion with legislators, congressional delegation staff, as well as the teams at ACCD and the Department of Taxes to navigate the intricacies of rules around the Economic Recovery Grants that might have prevented businesses from having the flexibility they need to use them effectively. As one result of this work, the interpretation of these grants as “revenue replacement” will mean you will not have a deadline by which you need to spend them. 

– IMPORTANT UPDATE – 

The Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Committee has been sent a time-sensitive proposal from Governor Scott to reallocate $13.2 million in unspent CARES Act funds for additional Economic Recovery Grant relief. The reason this is time sensitive is for two reasons; first, while some grants have already gone out to hospitality businesses, the State has not sent any other grants and they hope to incorporate these funds in any grants before they go out, potentially raising the grant award by 7%; second, the grants need to be sent before the end of the year! 
 
Legislators need to hear from you that they should act quickly to not miss this opportunity! 
 
Please, contact your legislators, who can be found here, and ask them to advocate that their colleagues on the Joint Fiscal Committee approve the Governor’s proposal. We suggest:
 
  • Explaining to them that an extended period of suspended or depressed cashflow can kill even the most stable of businesses and what your grant will mean to your survival;  
  • Demonstrating how this is true by walking through specific examples of how the restrictions due to the virus have meant extreme losses for you;
  • Reinforcing how important more funding for grants is to preserving the Vermont we all love. The more dollars the state can invest in preserving Vermont businesses, the fewer dollars needed to build it back our economy once this crisis is over. 
 
If your legislator is a member of the Joint Fiscal Committee, you can send the same message asking them to accept the proposal. If you would like any assistance drafting a message or have any questions, feel free to contact our Government Affairs Manager, Austin Davis, at [email protected]

VIDEO: COVID-19 Testing Options and Other Resources for your Employees

With the recent spike in coronavirus cases, we’ve received even more questions about testing employees, so our Government Affairs Manager sat down with Chelsea Sweeny of Garnet to talk about the testing services they offer to employers in the region. In addition, we’ve included some very concise guidance from the State for your convenience. You can find all of this here.

Vaccine Update for Vermont  

LCC’s advocacy team has cobbled together a plethora of newly available documents, reporting from national news outlets, and other information to give a more comprehensive view of when you, a Vermonter, might expect a vaccine. Keep in mind a few things as you read this;

  1. The roll-out schedule is still under construction and subject to change,
  2. As a reminder, there are two vaccines currently moving rapidly towards availability in the U.S. First, there is Pfizer which is 95% effective and will be reviewed by FDA on 12/10, and then the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices very shortly thereafter. This is the vaccine that was approved in the UK on Wednesday and needs ultra-cold storage (around -90 degrees) which will play into the speed it can be rolled out. Second, there is Moderna, which is 94.5% effective and will be reviewed by the FDA on December 17th; 
  3. Expectations are a down payment on disappointment, so while this represents a light at the end of the tunnel, be conservative with your expectations. 
  4. You’ll still need to abide by many of the same mitigation protocols until the majority of the population has been vaccinated. 

With that, here’s our update; 

The Vermont Department of Health is working hard to iron out the rollout of the vaccine, as are many other states. In a call this week, our advocacy team learned that Vermont will likely be receiving tens of thousands of doses in the month of December. In a separate call with the Health Department, from which information was shared with our advocacy team, we learned that Vermont will likely receive an initial amount of 5,850 and then receive similar amounts in the following three weeks. The amount each state will receive is based on population, and as of now it is expected that 40 million doses of the two readily available vaccines will be available in the month of December (keep in mind a person requires two doses each so that is actually only 20 million doses). 

Similar to the plan we previously reported on (see below chart) and what was voted on Tuesday by an independent panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Phase 1A of the Vermont vaccine rollout will consist of health care personnel and residents of long term care facilities. All Vermont hospitals are currently enrolled (though only seven of 14 have the ultra-cold storage capacity) with the VDH to receive the vaccine and there are upwards of 44,000 Vermonters that are considered health care workers. The state is further looking to delineate the definition and may start with those working in emergency departments, intensive care units, and providing direct patient care which is likely around 25,000 people; they hope to have this nailed down by as early as Monday. 

This table is the initial rollout we reported on months ago, and though it might be close to it, may not reflect the final schedule

The state will then move to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. This brings us into late January and it is expected that both vaccine producers will be able to early next year be producing 70 million doses a month, accelerating the speed that the vaccine can be deployed. 

Again, it is worth remembering that the vaccine will be administered in two doses weeks apart, and those given the vaccine will be encouraged to enroll in a “v-safe” program where people get daily and then weekly text messages with prompts about safety, side effects (likely fatigue and flu-like symptoms), and possibly to remind people of when they need their second dose. Folks will need both doses for it to be effective, and the interim period vaccine is 21-days for the Pfizer vaccine and 28-days for the Moderna vaccine in the studies. The FDA and ACIP may give a range, however, it will likely be very close to those numbers. 

The Vermont Department of Health is in the process of enrolling primary care providers, with work already started on Federally Qualified Health Centers and independents starting soon. VNA and urgent care will come soon after. Separately, the CDC has partnered with CVS, Walgreens, and HealthDirect for future vaccine rollout. Another separate program for pharmacies that may be “turned on” in the future includes Costco, Osco, Walmart, and Hannaford. 

With the addition of further providers, and potentially even another vaccine producer on the scene in 2021, all indicators point to the hopeful dissemination of the vaccine in the general population (phase 4) by a conservative estimate this summer, however, plan for the beginning of fall.

Legislators Briefed on $200 Million Struggle to Come 

Yesterday, the Vermont legislature met for its traditional pre-session briefing. The update from the state’s economist and Joint Fiscal Office staff wouldn’t come as a surprise to many who read our newsletters, and the fiscal outlook tracks closely with our October 30th update. While this number is obviously still in flux, the deficit state budget crafters will need to grapple with is somewhere close to +/- $200 million. 

Across all the funds, the state saw itself about $175 million lower than was expected in previous revenue forecasts, however, many revenue sources performed better than the adjusted forecast this summer. Among them were sales and use tax, which came in 15% above its adjusted down target mostly due to e-commerce. Personal income and corporate taxes also came in with a strong year, due to stimulus and a strong year preceding the pandemic (always important to remember the inside and outside lag time of market pressures). Meals and rooms tax came in just about where it was expected with its adjusted down forecast; just a percent above that forecast due to short-term rentals. Finally, business aid and PPP loans were considered taxable, so fiscal staff expected to see some of that revenue landing in state coffers. 

In October, the Administration issued their budget instructions to all Agencies and Departments with the request that they submit budgets by November 20th that reflect a level-funded budget. A level-funded budget does not mean that these agencies will have an easier time, as it will require them to absorb some of the natural growth in their budgets. Of this deficit, pensions represent about $45-50 million, the pay act and salary increases $20-25 million, reserves and debt service $16, human services $65 million, and millions more in other places. 

Education fund

The education fund is an area of high concern in the coming year. The fund relies on 100% of Sales and Use Tax, 25% of Meals and Rooms Tax, 33% of Purchase and Use Tax, and lottery proceeds. In a letter this week, the Vermont Tax Commissioner forecast a 9% increase in the education property tax rate due in almost equal parts to the decrease in expected tax revenue and an increase in teachers’ retirement costs. The state’s retirement system contributions missed its 7.5% return assumption this year due to the pandemic. In October, the boards of the retirement committees met to lower the return assumption from 7.5% to 7% to be in line with capital market assumptions. This increases the projected unfunded liability and increases the amount needed to close the unfunded liability under the current schedule. Additionally, the most recent experience study this year also increased the required contribution to $30-$40 million due to changes in the general population that are reflected in the coverage pool.

Direction of legislation this session

Expect that the legislature will be acutely focussed on bridging the gap between the winners and losers of the COVID economy that their economist laid out for them in their briefing (as seen in the below slide presented to them). How they will do that, and if it will be effective, is still unclear.

How do they overcome the deficit and COVID economy divides? 

There is some reason for hope, as the state does hold about $200 million in reserves across its Stabilization Reserve ($80M), Rainy Day Funds ($32M) Caseload Reserves ($96M), however, it wouldn’t be wise to spend that all in one place, especially with much of this recession reflected in next year’s revenue. Additionally, there is some hope that revenues could come in above forecast, as they have in some areas over the past few months, however, the latest shutdown to cope with the Halloween and Thanksgiving spread of the virus will surely depress revenues. The best hope for our little state is that federal relief comes soon and frankly, there is little we can do without federal relief.

Federal Update

We wish we had more for you, however, all we can do is say a deal appears close. Congress is under a December 11th deadline to craft either an omnibus spending bill or a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown at a time when so many people are relying on the government. It’s likely that the deal will not be struck by that date, and instead, Congress will pass a shorter Continuing Resolution to fund the Government one more week and give them until the 18th. 

As we look towards a deal, there are some things to be optimistic about. The good news is that every package on the table has, in some way an extension of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that helps smaller businesses and it is likely that components of the Protect the PPP Act might be incorporated to prevent crushing tax liability for those who took those loans. Additionally, elements of the Save Our Stages Act, specifically aimed at event venues that haven’t received much help to date. Finally, while details are not agreed upon, there will be additional unemployment insurance relief, at least at an interim level. 

The below table represents a bi-partisan deal that most people are rallying around and represents where consensus might be built from.

This week, the Government Accountability Office released a report outlining some of the major issues with previous relief as well as adjustments that should be made moving forward; that report can be read here.

Weekly Chance for Businesses to Chat with ACCD and VDH 

The Department of Health (VDH) and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) will host their weekly webinar series Wednesday at 3:00 pm focused on health and commerce pandemic updates for the business community. Decision-makers from ACCD, VDH, and the Department of Public Safety will provide updates and be available to answer your questions. Questions are collected ahead of time via an online form.

Find full details on the webinar series, including recordings of previous webinars at the ACCD COVID-19 Recovery Resource Center.

Concerned or need to learn more about anything in this newsletter? Email our team at [email protected].

We look forward to working with you.
Sincerely, 
The Lake Champlain Chamber Advocacy Team