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Vol. 11 / Issue 2 / May 2020
Trump, Congress Agree on New Stimulus Package by Dan McCaleb, The Center Square
President Donald Trump and congressional leaders have agreed on a new, nearly $500 billion stimulus package to help small businesses im-
pacted by stay-at-home orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The $484 billion deal includes $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program so businesses can continue paying employees. It also includes an additional $60 billion for a small business emergency grant and loan program, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for a new coronavirus testing program. “I urge the Senate and House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act with additional funding for PPP, Hospitals, and Testing,” Trump wrote See New Stimulus Package, Page 6
“Worst is Over (For Now),” New York Gets Testing Help from Mike Bloomberg “I believe the worst is over if we continue to be smart,” NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his daily briefing. “I believe we can start on the path to normalcy.” Mr. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have emphasized for the past several days that any return to a semblance of normal life in the city and state will proceed in phases, during which restrictions will be eased based on measurable progress against the virus. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he’s enlisted former Mayor Mike Bloomberg to help create a “tracing
army” that will find infected people and get them into isolation. Also during his daily briefing, Gov. Cuomo said “we’re in a relatively good place,” regarding the COVID-19 outbreak in New York state. “In downstate New York, the curve is on the descent,” Gov. Cuomo said. “The question now is how long is the descent? Hospitalization numbers are coming down, intubations are coming down, number of new people going into the hospital every day is still troublingly high, but better than it was.” See New York Gets Testing Help, Page 23
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Seven Northeast States Announce Council to Plan Economic Reopening by Dave Lemery, The Center Square
A group of six Northeast states— Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island—on April 20 jointly announced a council formed by representatives of each to come up with a plan to reopen their economies as the coronavirus crisis starts to ebb in the weeks to come. The group became seven later in the day when it was announced that Massachusetts had joined the coalition. The move by the states was seen
in some corners as putting them in opposition to comments by President Donald Trump earlier in the day asserting that he alone has the power to decide when the economy is reopened. The states’ announcement was led by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and the other five Democratic governors each called into a news conference held in Albany, NY, to announce the move to form the regional council. Each state will contribute three representatives—he state’s top See Economic Reopening, Page 12
Most Shops Weathering The Storm – So Far by Gary Ledoux
On April 17, 18, and 19, Autobody News used its 19,000 shop email subscribers and also social media channels to conduct a survey of collision shops across the country to see how they were coping with the COVID 19 pandemic. The majority of shops responding were independently owned singe-point shops, those perhaps the most vulnerable to volatile market swings. Despite that, and a wide range of available work, (most shops operating at 25% to 75% capacity) most seem to be faring reasonably well. The majority of shops (59%) have not laid off any workers although 21% have laid off three-quarters of their people. Most shops have taken a number of precautions to protect employees and customers including use of gloves and masks, frequent hand-washing, etc. It is surmised that not many shops think the pandemic situation will last very long because only 19% have taken on work other than traditional collision repair.
The majority of shops have applied for financial assistance through the government’s CARES Act but have not received their funds yet. The sad truth is, those funds may never come because as of this writing, the funds have been exhausted. There are, however, other measures being debated to replenish the program (see related stories.) Wayne Stevens, owner of Stevens Collision in western New York is a single-point shop, certified with FCA, Hyundai, and Kia but with no DRP arrangements. At present he hasn’t laid-off any employees because he has a two-week backlog of work. He says, “My father always told me, ‘Take care of the people that come through your door, no matter what they want, and you’ll build your business.’” Doug Hassell owns Hassell Auto Body on Long Island in New York, another single-point shop that has been in business since 1963, and has enough work to stay busy—so far. The shop has no DRP arrangements and no dealer relationships although they See Body Shop Survey, Page 16
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