NH Delegation Calls for Increased Support to Non-Profit Organizations Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Representatives Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas today called on House and Senate leaders to include significant support for non-profit organizations in upcoming COVID-19 response legislation.

The CARES Act and Families First Act provided substantial support for non-profits in recent months, including through the Paycheck Protection Program. However, non-profits need additional assistance in order to continue delivering much-needed support to Granite Staters.

“While our constituents’ need for the crucial services provided by non-profits has never been greater, the current crisis has made it more difficult for non-profits to access charitable donations, grant funding, and other resources,” wrote the NH Congressional Delegation. “As a result, non-profits across New Hampshire are facing significant financial strain and require direct assistance in order to continue providing vital community services.”

The NH Congressional Delegation also highlighted the invaluable support that non-profits are providing to Granite Staters. “Non-profits have stepped up during this crisis to meet emerging housing, education, employment, food, and healthcare needs in our state, and to modify existing services to limit the spread of COVID-19,” wrote the NH Congressional Delegation. “In order to ensure that non-profit organizations can successfully meet the growing needs of our constituents, it is imperative that Congress quickly advance another COVID-19 relief package which provides direct, dedicated emergency assistance for non-profits.”

Read the NH Congressional Delegation letter here or below.

Dear Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, and Leader McCarthy:

As Congress works to address the economic impacts of COVID-19, we urge you to ensure that non-profit organizations receive substantial emergency assistance as part of the next legislative response package. While our constituents’ need for the crucial services provided by non-profits has never been greater, the current crisis has made it more difficult for non-profits to access charitable donations, grant funding, and other resources. As a result, non-profits across New Hampshire are facing significant financial strain and require direct assistance in order to continue providing vital community services.

Throughout the development and Congressional consideration of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, we worked with our colleagues to ensure that non-profits are eligible for the same economic relief as other employers. By delivering the paid sick and family leave tax credits and employee retention tax credit through the payroll tax system, the Families First Act made certain that tax-exempt non-profits could fully access this financial assistance. The CARES Act provided many non-profits with forgivable loans through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. We also strongly supported the CARES Act’s explicit statutory direction to the Federal Reserve to endeavor to provide non-profits access to low-interest emergency loans through its Main Street Lending Program.

However, though the Families First Act and the CARES Act provided initial relief to non-profit organizations, we have heard from many in New Hampshire that require significantly greater assistance in order to continue serving vulnerable families and front-line responders. Non-profits have stepped up during this crisis to meet emerging housing, education, employment, food, and healthcare needs in our state, and to modify existing services to limit the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, as non-profits have worked to provide these services, many have also lost significant financial and staffing resources due to the crisis. Other organizations in New Hampshire that provide important community resources have been forced to close and continue to face significant operational challenges during this time of economic uncertainty. In order to ensure that non-profit organizations can successfully meet the growing needs of our constituents, it is imperative that Congress quickly advance another COVID-19 relief package which provides direct, dedicated emergency assistance for non-profits.

This need for further support is made all the more urgent by the unfortunate delay by the Federal Reserve in providing non-profits with access to its Main Street Lending Program, which provides emergency loans to mid-size businesses with up to 15,000 employees or up to $5 billion in annual revenue. Despite the CARES Act directing the Federal Reserve to endeavor to provide emergency loans to mid-size non-profits, these organizations are still unable to access this significant assistance program. Although the Federal Reserve is evaluating a separate approach to providing emergency loans to mid-size non-profits, the non-profit sector in New Hampshire cannot afford to wait for the design, announcement, and implementation of this program to be completed. Non-profit organizations in our state need immediate and direct financial assistance in order to continue providing crucial community services.

As the non-profit sector continues to provide services to individuals and families who are struggling during the COVID-19 crisis, we urge you to ensure that non-profits receive urgently needed emergency financial assistance in the next legislative response passed by Congress.

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