Great American Outdoors Act: The House of Representatives passed the Great American Outdoors Act yesterday, sending the Act to the President for signature. The Great American Outdoors Act would permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanent and mandatory. Further, this bill would establish the National Parks and Public Land Restoration Fund to address the deferred maintenance backlog on public lands. AzLTA joined Rep. Schweikert in a press release applauding the passage of the Act.

AHLA Urges Support for Industry: The most pressing concerns for our industry right now are access to liquidity and debt service, and liability protection. In a letter AHLA sent a letter to Congress, we highlight the critical needs of the hotel industry focused on 4 key priorities, including:

1. Providing additional liquidity for severely impacted businesses through a targeted extension of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

2. Creating hotel industry relief opportunities utilizing Federal Reserve and Treasury authority to expand the Main Street Lending Facility and address hotel CMBS borrowers.

3. Including Limited Liability Language for Hotels and Other Places of Public Accommodation.

4. Ensuring targeted tax provisions such as credits for capital expenditures, employee retention, travel, and others are included that will benefit severely injured businesses and their employees.

AHLA will continue to work with Congress to ensure that the hotel industry’s top priorities are included in the COVID 4.0 relief package and we will be engaging you to weigh in with your Members of Congress at the appropriate time. Your voice will be critical in ensuring our industry gets the ongoing support we need to keep hotels open and bring back furloughed employees.

Push for Cleaning Incentives Continues: Congressman Tom Rice (R-SC), a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, joined the long list Members seeking to help businesses with enhanced cleaning and reconfiguration costs with the introduction of the Healthy Workplace Tax Credit.  AHLA’s recent survey results showed that the industry is overwhelmingly taking measures to protect guests and employees as we work to reopen safely such as personal protective equipment (PPE), barrier shields, hand sanitizers, enhanced cleaning tools and products and more.  AHLA will continue to work in the House and Senate to ensure the hotel industry remains front and center as these bills are negotiated in the coming weeks. 

House Introduces Small Business Proposal: Representatives Filemon Vela (D-TX) and Lance Gooden (R-TX) have introduced H.R. 7671, the Small Business Comeback Act. This bipartisan legislation would establish a federal grant program to assist small businesses with operational expenses so that they may continue to reopen and remain open. By offsetting operational expenditures, businesses will be able to rehire, retain, and provide support for their valued employees. This legislation directs the Secretary of Treasury to appoint a special Administrator to operate a streamlined relief fund that provides nearly instant decisions on loan approvals and quickly distributes funds to businesses that desperately need support. Financial assistance can be used for expenses such as rent, utilities, payroll, and state and local taxes.