Update from Your Chamber, Thursday, March 19

3/19/2020

There was movement on several fronts yesterday on federal legislation and a clearer picture on what they call “Phase 3” legislation could be. The City of Winter Haven also held a specially called commission meeting last evening regarding an emergency declaration, closing some City facilities and temporarily suspending late fees and disconnections of utilities for 60 days, something your Chamber strongly advocated for, especially for those businesses experiencing unprecedented hardship right now. We also have had our first confirmed case in Winter Haven. Updates below.

Updates:
Federal Legislation:

Yesterday the US Senate passed the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act.” This is the legislation I’ve been emailing you about the past few days. This legislation addresses unemployment compensation, paid sick leave, paid family and medical leave (FMLA), provisions for diagnostic testing, health services, school nutrition programs, WIC, SNAP, senior food programs, medical devices liability and discussion of liquidity impact for small businesses. At this link is an updated summary analysis shown to you in “track changes” mode so you can see what was changes. Examples of changes from the initial legislation include:
- Eligibility requirements for Paid Sick Leave
- Employers of healthcare providers and emergency responders may elect to exclude such employees from paid sick leave
- Some exemptions for businesses under 50 employees if requirement would “jeopardize the viability of the business as an ongoing concern.”

The Treasury Department presented their proposal for the “phase 3” legislation that you’ve probably heard about in the news as the direct payment legislation. Read the full summary of the proposed phase 3 legislation here. In summary the phase 3 legislation addresses:
- Airline industry assistance ($50 billion)
- Other Severely Distressed Sectors of the U.S. Economy ($150 billion)
- Temporarily permit use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund to guarantee money market mutual funds
- Authorize and appropriate funds for direct payments to individual taxpayers, to be administered by the IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service in two rounds, $250 billion to be issued beginning April 6 and $250 billion to be issued beginning May 18
- Creation of a small business interruption loan program and appropriate $300 billion for the program.

City of Winter Haven:
During the City of Winter Haven's specially called commission meeting last evening the following decisions were made:

Declare a state of emergency in order to be eligible for state or federal funds as needed
Move all essential public meetings to Nora Mayo Hall to allow for appropriate social distancing recommendations. Postpone advisory committee meetings without time-sensitive essential business.
Suspended all athletic activities, special events, classes and city facility rentals now through May 9.
Effective Thursday, March 19, indoor recreation facilities will be closed until further notice. The goal will be to find alternate assignments for staff members displaced by these closures for as long as possible.
Effective immediately, utility service disconnects for non-payment and late fees have been temporarily suspended for 60 days. They also discussed the potential of reviewing garbage services fees if a business has been forced to close and therefore is not generating waste.
City of Winter Haven administrative offices remain open for business
Side note: We have also asked that the City consider suspending ticketing for parking time limits in the downtown core based off the feedback of many of our members. We will keep you posted on that outcome.

For additional information regarding the outcomes of this meeting or any other City business related to COVID-19 click here.

Other local and statewide updates:

The 2nd case was diagnosed in Polk County and it happens to be in Winter Haven. The affected individual is a student at the Polk State College Winter Haven campus. The Department of Health reports the case to be travel related. Upon notification from the department of health, Polk State swiftly communicated the information to the students, faculty and the general community. Read Polk State's release here. Polk State closed their campus as of Monday, March 16 and will shift completely to online instruction per state declaration through the remainder of the Spring semester beginning March 30.
Baycare has opened a drive-through testing facility in Polk County located at BayCare Urgent Care Haines City , 36245 U.S. Highway 27, Haines City, FL 33844
To get a full update on Governor DeSantis' March 18 briefing click here. This includes an update on what every state department is doing in relation to COVID-19 response.

All my best,
Katie Worthington Decker
President/CEO

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Update from Your Chamber, Thursday, March 19

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