Dear Friend,

As the State of Florida and our nation continues to battle the coronavirus, the health challenges, and the economic harm it has caused our nation, I want to update you on steps I have been taking to help combat the pandemic and to remind you that my staff and I are always here to assist you.

While my staff and I have continued to work, even while our Viera district office and Indian River satellite offices were closed, the good news is that our staff is back in our Viera office full time. In-person meetings are available by appointment. If you need assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out. We're here to serve you!
                                          
                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                                          
                                                                         Bill Posey    

Supporting Our Economy __________________________________________________

Posey Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Support Florida’s Tourism and Hospitality Industries

Unless the federal government takes important steps soon, many of our friends and neighbors that rely on our hotel and tourism will face longer-term adverse impacts. Rep. Posey recently introduced bipartisan legislation to directly address this issue and is working with Trump Administration to fix it before it takes effect.

It’s a technical issue, but the bottom line is that it relates to how the federal government reimburses hotels for government-rate stays at hotels in our community. With Kennedy Space Center, Patrick AFB, Cape Canaveral AFS, the navy presence and large defense contractors, federal workers and contractors are a significant customer base for our community. They stay in our hotels and spend their money in our restaurants and shops when they are here for business. Rep Posey’s legislation makes sure that the impacts from COVID-19 do not cause longer-term economic harm to hotels and their employees. The bottom line is that it ensures that rates for hotels paid by the federal government are not reduced in 2021 below the rates that were in place in January 2020. Fixing this will help get more folks back to work sooner.

“The coronavirus has had a crippling effect on many sectors of our economy like the hospitality and tourism industries which are essential to us here in Florida and many other travel destinations around the country,” said Rep. Posey. “This bill is an important step in our economic recovery.”


NEW EZ Form Helps with PPP Loan Forgiveness

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Treasury Department recently posted a revised, borrower-friendly Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application. In addition to revising the full forgiveness application, SBA also published a new EZ version of the forgiveness application.

The EZ version applies to borrowers that are: (1)  self-employed and have no employees; or (2) did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees; or (3) experience reductions in business activity as a result of health directives related to COVID-19, and did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%.

Click here to view the EZ Forgiveness Application.

Click here to view the Full Forgiveness Application.

The EZ application requires fewer calculations and less documentation for eligible borrowers.  Both applications give borrowers the option of using the original 8-week covered period (if their loan was made before June 5, 2020) or an extended 24-week covered period.


CARES ACT Includes Posey’s Provision to Protect NASA & Defense Contract Workers and Their Mission

Legislation passed to provide economic relief to American families, workers and businesses to help aid our nation through the coronavirus pandemic  included Rep. Posey’s provision to protect NASA and Defense contract  employees and ensure our nation’s space and defense workforce and programs remain intact. 

Contract workers at NASA and at our military bases face serious hardship when they are restricted from reporting to work at the Space Center or their respective DoD programs – for many there’s no telework option.  “As we battle the coronavirus we don’t want to risk losing our highly skilled workforce which ultimately could jeopardize our national security and critical space program investments.  My provision has kept these workforces intact so that as we continue to re-open they can immediately report to work,” Rep. Posey said.


First Responders ________________________________________________________

Posey Introduces Legislation to Protect COVID-19 First Responders from Unfair Taxation 

Rep. Posey is responding to the unfairness of certain states (i.e. New York) taxing the incomes of healthcare workers who left their own states to join the fight against COVID-19 in the overwhelmed hospitals and healthcare facilities of states hardest hit by the virus.  To address this absurdity, Rep. Posey introduced legislation to allow a refundable income tax credit equal to the amount of tax these out of state workers were forced to pay.  “First responders, doctors, nurses, or other health or emergency services workers who left Florida to help out in New York should not face a New York tax penalty for helping out in their time of great need, said Rep. Posey.  

This bill is budget neutral and offsets the cost of this tax relief by reducing the taxing state’s highway funds.  This makes whole our healthcare heroes who braved the risk of the disease to bring care to patients in other part of our nation.


Accountability ________________________________________________________

Combatting COVID-19 Fraud

Rep. Posey recently introduced legislation to prevent payment of federal reimbursement to healthcare providers who submit requests without sufficient documentation. The bill responds to widespread reports that some healthcare providers very likely used COVID-19 to seek federal benefits but had done so without confirming a diagnosis of the disease using an FDA approved test. It would deny health service reimbursement requests that are not accompanied by approved test results confirming the diagnosis or payment for testing services that do not use an approved FDA test. Rep. Posey's bill will also curb erroneous reporting of COVID-19 infections and deaths.  The CDC would correct the counts of COVID cases and fatalities where reports were not supported by FDA approved testing.


Veterans Update _______________________________________________________

Posey Leads Bipartisan Effort to Ensure Veterans Have Access to the Care They Were Promised

Rep. Posey has been leading an effort to ensure that veterans continue to have access to Military Treatment Facilities. The Department of Defense (DoD) has planned to downsize military treatment facilities to exclude many veterans on TRICARE who rely on their services. With the COVID-19 pandemic putting more pressure on the civilian medical system, downsizing these DoD facilities will only strain the system further. Posey is working to ensure that provisions are included in the National Defense Authorization Act to protect our veterans and keep our promise to them. 

Serving Constituents _______________________________________________________

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