NFIB California Main Street Minute

For the legislative and political week January 11-15

Welcome to the January 11 edition of the NFIB California Main Street Minute from your small-business advocacy team in Sacramento.

The big news of last week was Gov. Gavin Newsom’s release of his 2021 proposed state budget plan. “If approved, more than $750 million would go toward a so-called California Jobs Initiative that would provide a combination of tax credits, micro-grants and loans aimed at boosting job creation,” reports The Sacramento Bee.

Politico California breaks down that $750 million to roughly:
- A second round of $575 million in small business grants
- How about the additional $100 million for the Main Street Hiring Tax Credit? That is something we supported as legislation
- $71 million in business fee waivers.
- $430 million in CalCompetes grants and tax credits for businesses growing or moving to California.
- $25 million in labor apprenticeship programs.
- $35 million for a new California Dream Fund that issues $10,000 grants to entrepreneurs in underserved communities.
- $162 million for agriculture.
- $25 million in grants for museums and other cultural institutions.

To read more about the latest business grants, click here. The application deadline for the first round of $500 million worth of grants, announced last year, is on January 13. Click here for more information on that first round, which includes a link on how to apply.

The eagle eye of NFIB California’s chief legislative advocate caught this shiny budget nugget:
- MITIGATING THE SALT DEDUCTION LIMITATION FOR S-CORPORATIONS SHAREHOLDERS. The Budget contains a provision that allows S-corporation shareholders a credit against tax equal to 13.3 percent of their S-corporation income in order to help them recoup some of the tax benefits lost by Californians when the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction was limited as part of the 2017 federal Tax Cut and Jobs Act. The Elective S-corporation Tax is expected to on net to produce a revenue gain between $0 and $20 million starting in 2021-22.

Those interested in reading the 380-page budget summary can click here. (Well, that cleared the room fast.)

NFIB California sent two news releases last week, one on the latest Small Business Economic Trends report, and just a day later, another release on the governor’s proposed state budget.

NFIB California heartily congratulates Isabel Guzman on her being named head of the U.S. Small Business Administration by President-elect Joe Biden.

“We couldn’t be happier about Isabel’s selection to help small business on a much larger landscape in 2021 and beyond,” said Kabateck. “She led efforts to listen to and provide vital resources to our members and the Main Street community, especially during this COVID era, participating in member-wide conference calls and rapidly responding to members’ specific needs by navigating them to what they needed in real time. She was also one reason NFIB California was one of the first associations Dee Dee Myers called when the governor named her his top economic policy director. I’m proud to be able to pass off a good working relationship we developed here in Sacramento to our D.C. lobbying team.”

On Sunday, January 10, Kabateck participated in a panel discussion at the Re-Open Cal Now public policy conference held over the weekend in Rancho Murieta (Sacramento County). He was joined by economist Justin Adams, a former vice-chairman of NFIB California’s Leadership Council.

Nationally

A huge week for information on PPP loans, IRS guidance, and other vital issues worth every small-business owners’ immediate attention. Special thanks to NFIB’s Caitlin Lanzara for condensing it into quick accessibility.

The SBA released information about the timing of the re-opening of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Community banks will be able to facilitate first draw PPP loans starting Monday, January 11, and second draw PPP loans beginning on Wednesday, January 13. Read more here.

The SBA released additional PPP guidance earlier this week, as well:
- SBA Guidance on Accessing Capital for Minority, Underserved, Veteran and Women-Owned Business Concerns (Released 1/6/2021)
- Interim Final Rule on Paycheck Protection Program as Amended by Economic Aid Act (Released 1/6/2021)
- Interim Final Rule on Second Draw Loans (Released 1/6/2021)

On Wednesday, January 6, the IRS released guidance for the PPP forgiven loan and PPP forgiven expenses deductibility. Read more.

NFIB will continue to update our documents and website with the new guidance and regulations from the December recovery law. Here is the updated side-by-side loan comparison.

Need to Know
- Fact Sheet | COVID-19 Recovery 2.0: What Small Businesses Need to Know (Dec. 28, 2020)
- On-Demand Webinar | What You Need to Know on Applying for A Second (or initial) PPP! (Jan. 6, 2021)

Registration is now open for the next webinar: PPP Round 2 Step-by-Step and Vaccine Updates for Small Businesses. Click here to register for the live webinar on January 13

Visit NFIB.com/coronavirus for continuing updates.

On Wednesday, January 6, DOL issued a new rule on independent contractors that NFIB has long advocated for: A straightforward test for determining who is and is not an independent contractor. Read more here.