Weekly Message | Deadline Extended for First Round of Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program Applications

Weekly Message ~ January 2021

Business News

Deadline Extended for First Round of Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program Applications

On Monday, January 4, California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA), part of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), announced that the deadline for the first round of applications for the Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program will be extended until January 13, 2021.

The program, which officially opened December 30, experienced high traffic – receiving thousands of completed applications. However, due to the high traffic, some businesses may have had trouble accessing the application. Adjustments to the program’s website have been made and the application period has been extended to ensure that all interested applicants have the opportunity to apply. The Round 1 application deadline has been extended from January 8 to January 13, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.

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Nine New California Laws Explained

1. California Widens Mental Health Conditions Insurers Must Cover

Before the pandemic, more than half of Californians said most people with mental health conditions couldn't get the help they needed. California's new law will expand the list of conditions commercial insurers must cover. It includes medically necessary care for all mental health and substance use disorders.

2. California Expands Family Leave

Starting Jan. 1, 2021, roughly 6 million additional Californians will be able to take family leave with the guarantee that they can come back to their jobs.

3. California Aims to Improve Policing

Starting Jan. 1, California will have its first statewide policy banning police from using a couple of neck restraints: carotid restraints, which temporarily cut off blood flow to the brain, and chokeholds, which temporarily cut off a person's air. In addition, the state attorney general will investigate incidents in which police kill anyone who is unarmed.

4. Cal State Requiring Ethnic Studies Class

The state's lawmakers were listening to the national racial introspection and wide-scale protests, voting this summer to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement for all California state university students.

5. California Eases Hiring of Ex-inmate Firefighters

As California has faced its most devastating wildfire season on record, nearly a third of the people on the frontlines have been state prisoners. A new California law aims to change that and make it easier to hire formerly incarcerated firefighters.

6. California Committee to Study Slavery Reparations

A new law — carried by San Diego Democratic Assemblymember Shirley Weber — establishes a nine-person committee to study California's complicity in slavery, develop proposals on what reparations might look like for descendants of enslaved people, and determine who might get paid.

7. California Offers Tax Credits to Some Undocumented Workers

In 2019 Governor Gavin Newsom more than doubled how much money the state spends on its tax credit for low-income workers. But since its establishment in 2015, the credit has been unavailable for undocumented workers who pay taxes, until now.

8. California Closing State Youth Prisons

California's three remaining youth prisons will no longer accept newly convicted youth after July 2021. Instead, counties will be responsible for young offenders who've committed the most serious offenses.

9. California Businesses Must Report COVID Outbreaks

New state law will require businesses — and the State Health Department — to report more COVID data. The law requires businesses to notify employees within 24 hours if they've been exposed at work.

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Critical Need for Blood, Donate Today!

The American Red Cross celebrates National Blood Donor Month each January and recognizes the lifesaving contribution of blood and platelet donors. As we begin the New Year, we encourage individuals to roll up a sleeve to give this month, and throughout 2021. Winter is one of the most difficult times of year to collect enough blood to meet patient needs. Read more

Health Benefits from Donating Blood:

Donated blood is tested and donors can be asked to be informed if any irregularities are found.
The satisfaction of saving the lives of many people and helping others.
Calorie burn: the blood donation process burns 650 calories, which is about the same as an average spin class.
Reduced risk of heart disease: helps eliminate the excess buildup of iron in the blood.
Reduced risk of cancer: also due to reduction of excess iron buildup in the blood.
Stimulates blood cell production: after donating blood, the body works to replenish the blood loss. This stimulates the production of new blood cells and in turn, helps in maintaining good health.

Ways to Donate Blood:

Blood donation appointments can be made by visiting redcrossblood.org. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients.
Donate with Stanford Blood Center. SBC is a community blood center that connects local donors to local patients through blood donation. We are a leader in the fields of transfusion and transplantation medicine, supplying essential blood products, testing, and transplant matching services to several Bay Area hospitals. Make an appointment today through this link!

Around Menlo Park

"Shelter-in-Play" Virtual Bingo Night

Virtual Bingo with other Menlo Park Community members is just a click away! The next bingo night is this Friday, January 8 from 6 to 7 pm.

There are two ways to play:

PDF Bingo Cards
How it works: Print them out and use household items as tokens or save them as photos to your phone or tablet.
How to get them: When you register, let us know if you prefer a pdf card or digital card. Then let us know how many. We will email them to you on the morning of the event.

A Digital Bingo Card
How it works: These are digital, interactive cards, connected to the bingo service we use to conduct this event.
How to get them: An hour before the event starts, you will receive an email that includes the name of our game and a password, which will allow you to generate a digital card that can be played on any device.

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