Stronger Together

The first half of 2020 has been tumultuous, filled with stress, anxiety, and civil unrest. However, as Californians, we are caring, sharing, resourceful, determined, passionate, compassionate, and resilient, amongst other amazing traits. Since our State’s Mandatory “Shelter-In-Place” directive on March 16th, 2020, I’ve tried to provide straightforward and timely information and resources to be helpful during these trying times.

The State Treasurer’s Office is an essential government operation and therefore, we have been open for business this entire time. I am proud that my team has pivoted to meet today’s challenges head-on. Please click here for our newsletter to follow what we have been doing for the past 5 months.

Please click onto our state’s official website for the latest executive orders by Governor Newsom, up-to-date health and safety precautions regarding the opening of businesses, parks and beaches, and latest resources.

There is $130 billion still available in the Payment Protection Plan (PPP), a forgivable loan program, administered through the U.S. Small Business Administration. There have been some recent positive changes to the PPP including:

1. Changing the 8 week employee retention to 24 weeks.
2. Reducing the amount that needs to be used for payroll from 75% to 60%.
3. Partial forgiveness is also now an option.

Click here for more info and how to apply.

The U.S. Small Business Administration just announced that the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application portal has re-opened as of June 15th. The EIDL is for small business and non-profits that are facing economic disruption due to COVID-19 and are in need of working capital. Small businesses and organizations can apply for the long-term, low-interest EIDL loan, and can also request an emergency grant of up to $10,000. Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Apply here.

Don’t forget to register for the U.S. Census.

It’s 9 simple questions and takes less than 2 minutes. The federal government allocates over a trillion dollars to the states based on census related data so it’s important we get our fair share of resources. Please fill out one form per household based on the number of people living under your roof as of April 1st. The due date is August 14th.

During this time of uncertainty, we have also pivoted to virtual webinars and teleconference town halls. I have participated in about 50 webinars to date, and I’d like to invite you to a FREE two-part webinar series with Brainzooming on ways to Jumpstart Business Operations to determine and fulfill the changing needs of customers. For more details and to register, click here.

1. Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020 at 1 p.m. (PST): Strategy for Success: Quickly re-imagining Your Business & Growth Strategy
2. Tuesday, June 30th, 2020 at 1 p.m. (PST): Attracting Amazing Ideas to Pivot & Restart

If you log onto my state website at www.Treasurer.CA.Gov, you will find two prominent buttons: one is our state’s COVID-19 Updates where you will find the latest facts and news and the other is our COVID-19 Resource Guides that are updated in real-time as resources become available for small businesses, individuals, nonprofits, food access, and tax relief. Please click here for the latest updates.

There are still challenges ahead of us. We will all need to hunker down over the next 3-4 years. But we’re Californians. I am confident that we will get through this together and emerge as strong as ever.

As always, if I can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at Fiona@FionaMa.com.

Please also follow me on Twitter (@FionaMa), Facebook (Personal and Politician pages) and Instagram (fionamacpa).

In peace and friendship,

Fiona Ma, CPA