Coronavirus relief legislation will hurt small businesses | Letter to the editor

Everyone applauds the House for attempting to help victims of the novel Coronavirus, but there appears to be a major problem in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

According to the AP, the legislation just passed guarantees “three months of paid family and medical leave. Small and mid-sized employers will be reimbursed through tax credits.”I

f true, this could destroy the lives people expect to return to. For example, my small business employs nine people; under a worst case scenario, this provision would cost $120,000, which we don’t have (and, therefore, can’t pay), at a time when we might not be able to generate any income. It would deplete all of our funds and leave nothing with which to restart.

Reimbursement via tax credits would come way too late, and, depending on the details, possibly not provide any money unless there is a taxable profit against which to apply them.

This legislation could destroy tens of thousands of businesses, and leave millions without jobs after they recover. Everyone wants to help people who contract Covid-19, but you can’t do it this way.

Kevin Hayes

Sarsota

This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Coronavirus relief legislation will hurt small businesses | Letter to the editor."