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Small business owners with troubled finances could receive additional funding from the paycheck protection program.

On Wednesday, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle handed out a summary of their $ 908 billion emergency aid package from Covid.

The proposal allocates $ 300 billion to the Small Business Administration, the federal agency responsible for overseeing the paycheck protection program – a forgivable loan created by the CARES Act.

The move, known as the bipartisan COVID Emergency Relief Act of 2020, would also include weekly additional unemployment payments of $ 300 as well as an extension of the forbearance of student loans through April 2021.

Funding would strengthen PPPs and provide more money to the hardest hit companies.

In general, borrowers are eligible for PPP lending if they use at least 60% of the proceeds on payroll. Partial lending may be available to those who don’t reach this threshold.

Any amounts not wiped off must be repaid and are subject to an interest rate of 1%.

In total, more than 5 million PPP loans were approved for a total of $ 525 billion.

Second draw for toughest hit

The bipartisan framework would allow the hardest hit businesses to take out a second forgivable PPP loan.

Eligibility for a second drawing of PPP cash would be limited to small businesses with no more than 300 employees that experienced a 30% loss in revenue in each quarter of 2020.

“Given the inequality in access to the first tranche, they may have had trouble getting the first loan at first,” said Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation.

Large companies that had relationships with banks had their first problems with credit as early as the spring.

“Some small businesses had no access to it at all,” said Watson.

The proposal also provides for funding to ensure that smaller borrowers – namely businesses with 10 employees or less – and underserved communities receive assistance.

Forgiveness and deductibility

The proposal also expands the list of forgivable expenses covered by PPP revenues to include supplier costs, investments in plant modifications, and personal protective equipment required for safe operation.

Legislators also suggest simplifying the award process for those with loans of $ 150,000 or less.

Although the PPP loan is tax-free, according to the Treasury Department and the IRS, entrepreneurs currently cannot claim a deduction for the covered business costs.

The bipartisan proposal addresses this issue by allowing these deductions “in accordance with the intent of Congress in the CARES Act” under the Framework.

Given the inequality in access to the first tranche, they may have had problems getting the first loan at first.

Garrett Watson

Senior Policy Analyst at the Tax Foundation.

Indeed, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have enacted laws that would allow corporations to do the write-offs.

Industry groups and tax experts have stated that not allowing these deductions would increase the tax burden.

Meanwhile, the Treasury and IRS said last month that business owners who “reasonably believe” that their PPP loans will be made cannot deduct the cost.

The timing of the proposal is crucial, said Watson.

“Hopefully it will clarify where companies are at the start of the tax season,” he said.

“I think part of this is because there are more runways for companies to have clarity about how their tax position will develop over the next year,” said Watson.

United Airlines Boeing 767-400 ER Extended Range with aircraft powered by 2 CF6-80 engines landing at Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport AMS EHAM in the Netherlands, the capital of the Netherlands.

Economou | NurPhoto | Getty Images

United Airlines is turning to technology to capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it underground to fully offset carbon emissions by 2050. This is a change from the compensation programs that the aviation industry and others have traditionally relied on to reduce their footprint.

The Chicago-based airline announced Thursday that it is making a multi-million dollar investment in a carbon capture joint venture between subsidiary Occidental Petroleum and private equity firm Rusheen Capital Management. The company is developing a carbon capture facility in the Permian Basin in Texas.

While the coronavirus pandemic has decimated air travel around the world, airlines typically cause around 2% of global carbon emissions. Carriers have used biofuels and carbon offsets bought in exchange for forest conservation and other projects.

“It may feel good in the short term, but the math just doesn’t nearly add up,” said Scott Kirby, United’s CEO, speaking to reporters on Wednesday about carbon offsetting. “The only way to really reduce atmospheric carbon is by capturing and binding air directly.”

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday angered Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration for their inability to reach an agreement on additional coronavirus relief this fall. He claimed the lack of financial support had caused permanent damage to small and medium-sized businesses in the US

“I really hate to say that, but I think that Congress has doomed so many companies to fail. The President has doomed so many companies to fail,” said Cramer in the “mid-term report”.

The result is a retail landscape that, according to Cramer, has shifted even further in favor of the big public companies like Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Amazon. For investors, this means that the sales surge these major retailers saw during the pandemic may be more sustainable than some believe.

“I think a lot of these companies … just added a huge amount of loyalty. I think these companies wiped out a lot of smaller companies because there is no incentive,” said the Mad Money host. These businesses, he added, “have no lines of credit. They can’t keep up. They are the empty shop windows of the country.”

Cramer, who made the decision in October to temporarily close his small restaurants during the pandemic, said closing independent businesses was a “terrible thing”. However, he said, “It has nothing to do with the stock market.”

Cramer’s comments came Wednesday shortly after Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, sharply criticized coronavirus relief in Washington. Legislators have been bogged down for months after many of the critical tenets of earlier stimulus laws expired in late July. At the center of the inaction was disagreement over the size and scope of the bill, with Republicans generally favoring a smaller package than Democrats.

“I know now that we have this big debate. Is it $ 2.2 trillion, $ 1.5 trillion?” Dimon said at the New York Times DealBook conference. “You must be kidding me. I mean, just split the baby and go on. I mean, that’s childish behavior from our politicians. We have to help the people of America.”

For his part, Cramer has been warning of the unequal consequences of an ongoing pandemic with no further help for small businesses for weeks. In late September, he said the strength of the Olden Garden-parent Darden restaurants’ holdings should “scare” people.

“Darden wins because its private competitors cannot cope with the Covid-19 economy,” Cramer said on September 24th. “We’re headed into a world where if you want to go out for dinner you won’t have one.” many options other than some large chains with deep pockets. Olive Garden will be the height of fine dining. ”

At that point, Darden stocks had risen about 270% from their coronavirus-era low in late March. The US outbreak has only intensified since Cramer’s statements, and governments across the country are weighing further restrictions on businesses like restaurants and bars. Darden’s shares are up 13% since September 24th.

Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable foundation owns shares in Amazon and Walmart.

Virgin Australia’s newly appointed CEO said it was “irresistible” to fly again as the airline seeks to regain market share under new owners.

Jayne Hrdlicka told CNBC on Wednesday that the company was well positioned to capture a third of the domestic market and would bring it back to pre-Covid levels when intra-country travel resumes.

“We’re three weeks in new ownership, we currently have the strongest balance sheet of any airline in the country, and by January … we want to account for about a third of the domestic market. That was what we were before Covid,” Hrdlicka said in an exclusive Interview with Will Koulouris from CNBC.

Hrdlicka is the former head of the low-cost airline Jetstar, a subsidiary of Qantas. She was named to succeed Paul Scurrah in October, as part of a strategy by new owners Bain Capital to rescue the flying airline after it was voluntarily managed in April.

It is our job as Virgin Australia to lift as much as possible, fly as much as possible and get as many of our people back to work as possible.

Jayne Hrdlicka

Virgin Australia CEO

Their installation coincides with the start of the summer season in Australia, which has largely reopened its internal borders amid falling coronavirus cases.

“It will be irresistible to fly again,” said Hrdlicka.

“We’re in a great place now as a country. We can get out, hang out with other people and travel,” she continued.

Virgin Australia Boeing 737 sit empty on the tarmac at Sydney Airport on August 5, 2020 in Sydney, Australia.

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“It’s our job as Virgin Australia to lift as much as possible, fly as much as possible, get as many of our people back to work as possible and allow Australia to really enjoy December and January.”

Virgin Australia is vying to get customers back after it expires in the first half of the year. Earlier this week, the airline launched a new frequent flyer program for passengers traveling before March 28, 2021 in an attempt to top similar promotions from competitor Qantas.

Hrdlicka said the competition was “the way it should be”. However, she added that it was “too early” to make an international travel call, and contradicted comments from Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas, who said last month that all international travelers should be vaccinated.

“We will listen and learn, work closely with the government and make a call once it is clearer what the correct answer is,” she said.

– Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Jayne Hrdlicka.