On Monday, U.S. Senate leaders released the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools Act (HEALS Act), the Senate’s roughly $1 trillion proposal for the next COVID-19 relief legislation. In May, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act), its $3 trillion proposed COVID-19 relief bill. Leaders in Congress and the White House are trying to negotiate a compromise bill by the end of next week. Several provisions in the proposed COVID-19 relief bills would affect the work of nonprofits, including:

The National Council of Nonprofits has prepared a good summary of the key nonprofit provisions in the HEALS Act and the HEROES Act.

One of the most important features of the CARES Act was the extension and expansion of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for the millions of Americans who are out of work due to COVID-19. One of these benefits, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program, provides $600 per week in supplemental UI benefits to workers who are unemployment due to COVID-19. These $600 supplemental UI benefits will expire today unless Congress acts to extend them (which is extremely unlikely at this point). These supplemental benefits are particularly important to North Carolinians who are out of work since our state UI benefits, which are capped at $350 per week, are among the lowest in the country. The expiration of these supplemental benefits will mean that many nonprofit employees who have been furloughed or laid off will see a steep decrease in their UI benefits next week. It also will create greater demand for many nonprofits’ services, as hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who are out of work will lose nearly two-thirds of their weekly UI benefits and will need to rely more on nonprofits to provide for basic needs like food, rental assistance, and healthcare. 

Congressional leaders from both parties recognize the importance of extending FPUC benefits, but they disagree on the details of the extension of these supplemental UI benefits. The HEALS Act would extend the supplemental benefits but reduce the weekly payments to $200 per week through October and then use a formula to provide for UI benefits that would be capped at 70% of workers’ normal weekly wages. The HEROES Act would extend the full $600 per week benefits through January 31, 2021. The extension of these benefits remains an important part of the ongoing negotiations over the next COVID-19 relief legislation, even though it will come too late to prevent a gap in supplemental UI benefits for unemployed workers.

The CARES Act also created the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program that provides UI benefits for many unemployed Americans who are out of work due to COVID-19 and who normally would be ineligible for state UI benefits. Notably, PUA provides unemployment benefits to many out-of-work independent contractors and to laid off or furloughed employees of religious nonprofits and small nonprofits with fewer than four employees that are exempt from providing UI benefits. PUA benefits continue through December 31, but independent contractors and workers who have been laid off or furloughed by exempt nonprofits also will see their weekly benefit amounts drop by $600 next week.

Last month, the NC General Assembly created a $15 million grant program for businesses and nonprofits that: (1) maintained 90% of payroll during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) had at least a 10% reduction in gross receipts from the same period in 2019; and (3) did not receive federal loans through the Paycheck Protection Program or the Main Street Lending Program. The Center worked with legislators to ensure that nonprofits would be eligible for this job retention grant program. The NC Department of Commerce is finalizing the grant application, which should be available in early August. The Center and NC Department of Commerce are offering a free webinar next Friday, August 7 at 11 a.m. to provide more information about this grant opportunity. If your nonprofit is interested in applying for a grant, we strongly encourage you to join the webinar.

In late May, the Center and our state government partners launched a survey on the impact of COVID-19 on North Carolina nonprofits. Nearly 2,000 nonprofits have already completed the survey. Please take 12 minutes to complete the survey, which asks about your organization's operations and needs during the COVID-19 crisis. Your response will inform government, philanthropy, and others about what COVID-19 related needs are most pressing in North Carolina. Responses completed by the end of the day today will be included in analyses of the impact of the pandemic on North Carolina’s nonprofit sector.  

 

The survey (available in English and Spanish) is a joint effort of the Center, the Office of the NC Secretary of State, and the Strategic Partnerships office at the NC Office of State Budget and Management. Thank you if your organization has already completed the survey.

You Can Vote, a nonprofit helping with nonpartisan voter education in North Carolina, has prepared an updated Voter FAQ that provides clear, accurate, and nonpartisan answers to a variety of common questions about the 2020 election process in North Carolina. The FAQ includes answers to common questions about absentee voting by mail (it will be very popular this year), the process for requesting an absentee ballot (it’s best to start the process sooner rather than later), photo ID (not required this year), and voter fraud (it’s extremely rare). The Center encourages all nonprofits to read these FAQs and share them with their staff, boards, volunteers, and the people they serve.

This week, the United Way of North Carolina launched a COVID-19 Impact Survey to learn more about the impact of the pandemic on individuals and families in every community of North Carolina. This 10-minute survey is available for every household – in English and Spanish – to complete on or before August 21. The Center encourages nonprofits to consider sharing the survey link with their staff, board, volunteers, and the people they serve.

In recent elections, nonprofits have used nonpartisan candidate forums, nonpartisan candidate questionnaires, and nonpartisan participation in campaign events to help inform their communities about choices on the ballot. Although in-person events will be limited this year and many campaigns are choosing digital outreach to prioritize the safety of the community, there is still a role for nonprofits to play! Nonprofit VOTE is offering a free webinar on Thursday, August 13 from 2-3 p.m. that will cover why candidate engagement matters, remaining nonpartisan, and ways to adapt to online platforms.