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Paycheck Protection Program & Health Care Enhancement Act
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Many families are out of work or face reduced hours due to the forced shutdown of the business they work for. Congress has been helping by funding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provides loans to small business owners who can then pay their employees. As of April 16th, over 134,000 loans were given out to Texas businesses as a result of the PPP, totaling more than $28 billion in funding that helped families across our state pay their bills during this unprecedented economic crisis.
On Thursday, I went to Washington for the passage of the "Paycheck Protection Program & Health Care Enhancement Act" and voted yes. Thanks to the passage of this bill, many businesses stuck in limbo can move forward instead of shutting their doors.
I want small business owners to know this much-needed additional economic relief is available. Banks began processing new loans with the additional funding on Monday at 9:30am CT. I encourage you to apply quickly in order to receive funding, and if you need assistance, please contact my office.
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Opening the Texas Economy
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On Monday, Governor Abbott announced that the Texas stay at home order will be expiring on April 30th. He replaced it with an executive order related to how the state may reopen in a phased approach. The executive order begins Phase 1 on Friday, May 1st, 2020. The plan does the following:
- Encourages vulnerable populations to stay at home as much as possible.
- Increases protections at senior living centers.
- Allows dine-in restaurant, retail in-store, malls, museums, libraries, and movie theaters to open at 25% of occupancy beginning on May 1st, while operating under minimum health standards.
- Allows opening of outdoor sports and churches/places of worship with some constraints.
- Provides a process for counties with five or fewer cases to increase dine in restaurant, retail in-store, and move theater capacity to as much as 50% of capacity.
- Certain business types like salons, gyms, and summer camps will be considered in later phases.
We must reopen our economy while maintaining the health and safety of the public.
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Moving Past Dependence on the Chinese Community Party
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I'm on the National Security Subcommittee and the Ranking Member on the Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight Committee, and yesterday our committees met via teleconference with FDA officials to discuss pharmaceutical supply chain security. The government of China has taken advantage of the good will the United States has shown them for years. We must work together to secure our critical supply chains and reduce our reliance on China for our drugs and essential ingredients.
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The American Spirit at Work
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Happy to see Texans helping their neighbors. Thankful for those who are serving our first-responders, those who constantly find themselves on the front-lines of emergencies, in special ways. In times of trials, it’s important to share stories of good news like THIS:
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• This Thursday, those in the Corpus Christi area can tune into the local TV stations for a virtual town hall that I'll be participating in, which will air at 7:00pm CT. The program will be simulcast on KRIS-6 (NBC), KZTV (Action 10/CBS), Telemundo (KAJA), CW (CW23).
• You can use this map to find mobile and other COVID-19 testing sites near you.
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To Those Serving Others During This Pandemic
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We can never thank you enough to all those who show up to work in order to keep the wheels of our communities in motion. We know how much you sacrifice, and we greatly appreciate what you do. Please reach out to my office if we can assist you in any way.
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Rep. Michael Cloud
27th District, Texas
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If you know of anyone who would benefit from this email please forward it. If they would like to receive weekly updates themselves they can sign up HERE. You can also follow me on social media to get daily updates from my office.
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Corpus Christi Office
(361) 884-2222
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