Vol. XIX, Issue 32

June 3, 2020

CARES Act Update—PPP Loan Forgiveness and Loan Review Assistance for UMC Borrowers

Once again, Wespath has partnered with the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) to assemble guidance to assist local churches and annual conferences of The United Methodist Church that have received loans under the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)—a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

On May 15, 2020, the SBA published a loan forgiveness application and instructions (Forgiveness Application). On May 22, 2020, the SBA published regulations about loan forgiveness (Forgiveness Rule) and regulations about loan reviews (Review Rule), intended to assist PPP borrowers as they complete the Forgiveness Application.

Legal teams from Wespath and GCFA have reviewed the SBA's Forgiveness Application with the Forgiveness Rule and Review Rule and created a document to assist UMC borrowers:

We have also updated our CARES Act—FAQs about SBA's PPP Loans; Impact on UMC Organizations (UMC PPP FAQs) to reflect some of the key points in the Forgiveness Rule and Review Rule.

These two documents should assist UMC borrowers in assessing PPP loan forgiveness and in completing the Loan Forgiveness Application.

Change to PPP May Be on the Horizon: On June 1, 2020, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he "hopes and anticipates" that the Senate will pass the House's PPP flexibility bill (H.R. 7010) this week. You can read more about H.R. 7010 here. Pointing to the overwhelming majority vote in the House (only one House Member voted against the bill), Leader McConnell expects that the Senate could pass the bill by unanimous consent.

We are closely monitoring legislative activities and will keep you informed as events develop.

Please direct any questions you may have about the CARES Act to Tony Prestipino, Andy Hendren, Steve Clark or Jim O'Connell.

CARES Act Update for Employers—New Video

As part of Wespath’s commitment to keeping participants and UMC employers informed about relief measures available through coronavirus-related legislation, we have released another video about the CARES Act. This new video focuses on provisions for employers, including PPP loans, the Employee Retention Credit and payroll tax deferrals.

The new video is available on our COVID-19 Legislation page. Please feel free to share the link with your local churches and other UMC-related organizations.

Reminder: Benefits Access Updates Coming This Weekend

Updates to Benefits Access are scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 6.

When participants log in after June 6, Benefits Access will have a different look. The updates reorganize information in a more intuitive way, making it quicker to find information and easier to navigate on any phone, tablet or computer.

The Benefits Access website address and participants' personal login information remains the same. All the tools and information participants are accustomed to are still there—likely with fewer clicks to get there.

All documents on wespath.org will be updated to reflect the new Benefits Access site navigation. After June 6, we encourage you to check your conference websites and offices for materials that may contain old navigation directions and replace them.

There will be a brief system downtime on Saturday as we implement these enhancements. We appreciate your patience.

If you have any questions about the updates to Benefits Access, please contact Tony Prestipino at 1-847-866-4560 or Tony Prestipino or your conference liaison.


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