#20 | July 8, 2020 | View PDF of Full Issue | Subscribe
In This Issue

  • PPP Extended; SBA Discloses Info of Large Loan Recipients
  • New Employment Laws Take Effect Across the D.C. Region
  • WANADA Urges Support of the 4 Montgomery’s Kids Foundation
  • USMCA Takes Effect, With Potential Used Vehicle Tariff Impact
  • Virginia MVDB Background Check Process to Change on August 1
  • MoCo, Other Local Govt’s Conducting COVID Safety Enforcement
  • Va. DMV Appointments Can Now Be Made Up to 90 Days in Advance
Earlier this week, the Treasury Department  released data  on nearly 700,000 businesses who received Paycheck Protection Program loans. The release, which was designed to head off a more aggressive effort by both Democrats and Republicans to require even more disclosure of recipients, can be viewed  at this link

Businesses that received at least $150,000 in funding are listed with their name, address, and other limited identifying information, while only broad demographical data is listed for recipients of loans of $150,000 or less.

On Monday, the Small Business Administration also began accepting additional PPP applications, following the recent  extension of the program , which was originally introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin and signed by President Trump over the weekend.

Please click here  for more information from the SBA about applying for a forgivable loan if you have not previously done so. Would-be borrowers can now seek out a loan through an approved SBA 7(a) lender until August 8. As of the  SBA's latest report , published on Monday, there is more than $100 billion in allocated funds still remaining to be claimed. 
News to Us
Last month, the WANADA Bulletin  reported on a range of employment-related laws that took effect in Virginia on July 1, including  new recourse options  for workers who allege discrimination or wage theft. In addition to the report linked here , our advocacy partners at Charapp & Weiss have also created a presentation analyzing many of the major employment laws now in effect in Virginia.

Also as of last week, Maryland's dealer processing charge cap is now  up to $500 , an increase from the previous $300 limit, and we have created  a helpful guide  on the purposes of the charge.

Some other important laws took effect across our region last Wednesday, as well. The minimum hourly wage is now $15 for non-tipped employees in the  District of Columbia , irrespective of worker head count. In  Montgomery County  it is now $14 for workers at businesses with 51 or more employees. Employers with 11 to 50 workers must pay a minimum of $13.25 an hour, while businesses with 10 or fewer employees are required to pay at least $13. 

Employees of D.C. businesses may now claim up to eight weeks of  paid family leave , with a maximum benefit of $1,000 per week. Employers in the city have been paying a 0.62 percent payroll tax since July 1, 2019 to help fund this benefit.

In addition to the employment-focused laws that took effect in Virginia, the commonwealth's gasoline tax is also being raised, from 17 cents to 21.2 cents per gallon. The gas tax will be increased to 26.2 cents per gallon on July 1, 2021. Also, some parts of the state, including Northern Virginia, have long been paying an extra 7.6 cent-per-gallon gas tax; that surcharge is now being expanded statewide. 

Virginia's vehicle registration fee is  being reduced by $10 , to $30.75 for a vehicle that weighs 4,000 pounds or less; this cost does not include a $2 emissions surcharge for Northern Virginia, which in this instance includes Stafford County. The sales tax rate in the Richmond metropolitan area is also being raised from 5.3 percent to 6 percent, which will align it with Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads' sales tax rates. 

In Maryland,  the threshold for an unpaid-wages complaint  to be subject to a state order demanding repayment has been raised from $3,000 to $5,000.
On behalf of Tony Santy, who served for 35 years as CEO of WANADA Kindred-Line member Chesapeake Petroleum, WANADA encourages our members and Bulletin readers to support 4 Montgomery’s Kids , a 501(c)(3) organization that helps support many of the county’s most vulnerable children.

WANADA is supporting 4 Montgomery’s Kids with a $1,000 donation of its own, and donations to the group help provide kids in the county’s child welfare system with both necessities (including food, clothing, and transportation needs), and important child development tools like laptop computers, access to summer camps, and many more enriching opportunities that allow these children to reach their full potential.

In the midst of an unprecedented health and economic emergency, state and local budgets are strained even worse than they were in the Great Recession. Foster parents and children are feeling the acute stress of a combined medical and economic catastrophe even worse than the public at large, and even in the best of times, the county’s child welfare system still leaves children with only many of the bare necessities, let alone access to the types of opportunities and experiences that many of the more fortunate take for granted. At this time, your support will help the county’s neediest children now more than ever.

Please click here to learn more about 4 Montgomery’s Kids, and click here to learn more about where your funds will go.
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement went into effect on July 1, and serves essentially as a modified version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that went into effect in 1993.

Late last month, the National Automobile Dealers Association learned that final version of the USMCA may lead to a broader imposition of tariffs on used vehicle imports from Mexico and Canada than had previously been anticipated. NADA and six other American-based auto retail advocacy groups sent a letter to the director of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, urging the federal government to continue treating used-vehicle trade in the same fashion as it did under NAFTA.

Under NAFTA, used vehicles that were assembled in North America could be traded among the three nations without tariffs. According to NADA and the letter sent to the CBP, this provision allowed hundreds of thousands of used vehicles to be freely bought and sold across North America without tariffs raising the prices significantly.

As of today, NADA and the other groups have not heard a response yet from the federal government. If NADA receives any response, we will be sure to provide an update.

Other key provisions of USMCA include a requirement that 75 percent of a new vehicle’s components must be assembled in North America to qualify for tariff-free benefits, up from 62.5 percent under NAFTA. At least 40 percent of automobile parts must be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour by 2023, a move designed to increase Mexico’s labor standards and reduce the enticement of domestic automakers moving their assembly plants south of the border.
Last week, the Virginia Motor Vehicle Dealer Board announced that, effective August 1, auto dealers in the commonwealth are responsible for conducting the mandatory background checks for initial salesperson licenses.

As of earlier this week, only these two firms are authorized to complete MVDB licensing background checks, though the state says more will be added soon:

Screening One
Paul Craddock
919-533-5005

CareerBuilder
Employment Screening
866-255-1852

According to the state, when you submit your  MVDB 61 form  on behalf of a new salesperson, the background check vendor will provide you with a unique identifier code to include under the "Background Check Report Number" line in Section 4 of the application.
Several Montgomery County businesses have been shuttered in the past couple of weeks for flagrantly violating the county’s phase two re-opening guidelines . The businesses were shuttered after several complaints, including a Gaithersburg restaurant whose owner explicitly declared on Facebook that its employees would not wear face masks as required by the state.

Two hookah lounges – one in Rockville, and another in Silver Spring – were also closed, because hookah lounges are not allowed to operate even under the more lenient state-issued stage two reopening guidelines . A restaurant in Silver Spring was closed for failure to adhere to social distancing guidelines, as well.

Even in the case of the Gaithersburg restaurant that was shuttered after explicitly refusing to adhere to the state mask ordinance, the county initially was reticent to close the restaurant. County health officer Travis Gayles told The Washington Post that businesses will be warned before they are shuttered, but that compliance efforts would continue to be enforced.

Across the region, state and local departments of health are empowered to shutter businesses who are not aligned with the latest safety requirements. Across the region, both patrons and employees of public-facing businesses are required to wear masks, and to provide ample sanitation materials and space for social distancing. We strongly encourage all our members and Bulletin readers to remain vigilant about compliance, in order to ensure the health of employees and to help the region continue its strong progress in reducing the transmission of this virus.

To view the latest health guidelines in your state or county, please visit WANADA’s COVID-19 Information Library .
Those wishing to set up an appointment with the Virginia DMV may now reserve an appointment up to 90 days in advance . On Monday, the DMV also opened three additional service centers in the commonwealth (though they are outside the D.C. region), bringing the total number of operative centers to 38.

The Virginia DMV has also extended the validity of state-issued credentials another 90 days; these include driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations that had been set to expire between March 15 and now. Please click here for more details.

Virginia is currently in phase three of their statewide reopening plan; to view the latest guidelines for businesses, please click here . To view the latest operating statuses for all three DMV systems in the Washington area, please click here .