Dear Friends,
After weeks of social distancing, we have begun to see that the tide is turning against COVID-19 and the time is fast approaching to rebuild.
In Arkansas, state parks are scheduled to reopen on May 1st, with measures, such as a contactless check-in process, in place to ensure the continued health and safety of those spending time outdoors and serving their community.
For more information, please visit the Arkansas State Park's website by clicking HERE or on the image below.
Governor Asa Hutchinson has announced that Arkansas will reach the threshold of testing two percent of the population in May, paving the way for the continued opening of our state.
Further, according to the Arkansas Department of Health Secretary, Dr. Nate Smith, there has been a decrease of active COVID-19 cases since yesterday, another positive sign.
To watch the Governor's press conference from yesterday, click HERE or on the image below.
Wednesday, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced that restaurants in Arkansas will be open for limited dine-in service starting May 11th. To read more on this phase one of reopening, click HERE.
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The City of Hanam in South Korea Gifted Masks to Arkansas
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Little Rock's sister city of Hanam in South Korea has gifted nearly 1,000 masks to help Arkansans combat the spread of COVID-19.
For three decades, Hanam and Little Rock have had a close relationship, and I am proud to see it continued through acts of grace as we continue to help our global neighbors in the midst of this worldwide pandemic.
| Paycheck Protection Funds Available Now |
Assisting Arkansas's Small Businesses
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Monday, with the additional funding provided by Congress, the Small Business Administration (SBA) resumed accepting Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications from approved lenders on behalf of any eligible borrower.
Last week, I was proud to support this lifeline to families and businesses across Arkansas by voting in favor of the Paycheck Protection Increase Act which secured an additional $310 billion in funding for the PPP.
Programs like the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and the PPP have provided critical relief to families and small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Already, our state has benefitted from 21,000 loans totaling more than $2.7 billion for the hardworking Arkansans whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. The PPP loans have helped Arkansas businesses and nonprofits retain their employees and keep their businesses functioning during the current public health crisis.
Approximately 80% of the PPP loans were approved by local community banks, with no lender accounting for more than 5% of the total dollar amount of the program. The chart below outlines the current Small Business Administration (SBA) lenders in Arkansas.
I am also pleased that, after concerns were raised by members of Congress, the Treasury Department issued guidance clarifying that some hospitals owned by governmental entities may be eligible for a loan from the PPP to keep their workers on the payroll. This is especially beneficial for our rural hospitals in Arkansas.
Hospitals that are partially owned by state and local governments and receive less than half of their total funds from public sources—excluding Medicaid—are eligible for a PPP loan.
If you need information about PPP loans, please contact me at Hill.House.gov or call my office at (501) 324-5941.
| Direct Payments Headed to Americans |
Relief Headed to You Soon
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As of April 17, over 88 million people had received their Economic Impact Payment established by Congress in the CARES Act.
If you have any questions regarding your eligibility, how you will receive your payment, or the status of your payment, check the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Information Center HERE.
I understand how frustrating it can be to wait for these payments to reach you, especially if you receive an error message, or a message saying that the IRS does not have sufficient information. However, please be patient.
The IRS has been notified and is working to address this issue and to process all of the remaining payments for those who are eligible. According to a Washington Post article, the U.S. Treasury announced it made significant enhancements to the “Get My Payment” tool over the weekend including fixes for payment status for closed bank accounts, greater access for taxpayers who filed in 2018 but did not use direct deposit for a refund, and the ability to submit a zero for the question about refund amount or amount owed.
Payments are expected to be sent out on an ongoing basis over the coming weeks. These next set of payments will likely go to two groups: The first group is tax filers who were able to use the IRS's “Get My Payment” tool to add bank information by midday on April 22. The other set is people who don’t file tax returns but who receive Social Security or Social Security disability benefits, according to the Treasury Department.
Individuals who receive Supplemental Security Income or veterans benefits and don’t file tax returns should get their payments by early May.
If you are waiting for a paper check to arrive in the mail, the IRS has stated that these will take longer—up to several months—to process.
Learn more about Economic Impact Payments HERE or by clicking on the image below.
| ATTENTION VETERANS AND SSI RECIPIENTS |
VA, SSI Recipients with Dependents Must Act by May 5
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a special alert that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiaries must visit the IRS's "non-filers" tool HERE by May 5, if they didn’t file a tax return in 2018 or 2019 and have dependents so they can quickly receive the full amount of their Economic Impact Payment.
By quickly taking steps to enter information on the IRS website HERE, SSI and VA beneficiaries can receive a $500 per dependent child payment automatically in addition to their $1,200 individual economic impact payment. Otherwise, their payment at this time will be $1,200, and, by law, the additional $500 per eligible child amount would be paid in association with a return filing for tax year 2020.
| Repayment for Hospitals Treating the uninsured |
COVID-19 Uninsured Program Portal Available |
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a new COVID-19 Uninsured Program Portal, allowing health care providers who have conducted COVID-19 testing or provided treatment for uninsured COVID-19 individuals on or after February 4, 2020, to request claims for reimbursement.
To access this portal, click HERE.
HHS has also provided answers to some of the most frequently asked questions by providers HERE.
Ensuring that our hospitals, clinics, and healthcare providers will be able to have the funds to continue treating patients after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided is vital to the sustained health of our country. I am glad that HHS has provided this resource to help bridge that gap.
| Discussing congress's Plan to help |
Over the past few weeks, Congress has allocated trillions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars towards combating the public health and economic effects of the coronavirus. Congress must ensure transparency in how these funds are used.
I joined MSNBC Live with Katy Tur to discuss my appointment to the Congressional Oversight Commission which will monitor the Federal Reserve's and the U.S. Department of the Treasury's efforts to stabilize the economy.
To watch the full interview, click HERE or on the image below.
| Arkansas GoodWill Cleaning PPE |
Protecting Arkansas Healthcare Workers
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Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, located in Little Rock, has been chosen as Arkansas's only decontamination system for personal protective equipment (PPE).
The nonprofit Battelle was awarded a $415 million contract from the federal government to purchase 60 Critical Care Decontamination systems which can decontaminate N95 masks, which will help alleviate the shortage of PPE available for our health care workers.
Battelle began installing eight shipping containers of decontamination equipment on Monday at Goodwill's headquarters in Little Rock. At its peak, this system can be used to decontaminate up to 80,000 N95 masks a day.
Using peroxide gas vapors in a 6-hour cycle, masks can be used and decontaminated up to 20 times, according to Goodwill Arkansas CEO Brian Marsh.
Innovative solutions such as these are key to defeating this virus.
Sincerely,
Representative French Hill
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