While President Joe Biden is working with private businesses to develop incentives for Americans who have yet to get their coronavirus vaccines, the United States Treasury Department is calling back money that businesses received under a federal loan program intended to keep them afloat.
New Hampshire businesses, in particular, did well and even prospered during the pandemic. The Paycheck Protection Program loaned money to businesses that were struggling with the intention of helping them to keep employees on their payrolls. If they did so, the loans would be forgiven and viewed as grants. The majority of businesses accepting the money, though, were large multi-state or international companies, and some of them managed to have the loans forgiven even if they laid off employees. Overall, New Hampshire businesses fared better than those in other states, and contributed more money to the state through business taxes.
The state legislature, during the current budget process, is looking at increasing the rewards to businesses by exempting their federal grants from state taxation. Governor Chris Sununu, however, broke the news on Thursday that the Treasury Department has asked businesses that performed better than expected to return those funds — or some of them. Sununu got permission for the businesses to deduct pandemic-related expenses, such as staff training for remote sessions and purchasing plexiglass to create barriers between staff and customers. Businesses will need to list the measures in order to receive the credit.
Meanwhile, representatives in the New Hampshire House voted down a provision that would have prevented state and private businesses from imposing a vaccine requirement as part of their job requirements. The provision had been written into a bill to recognize an individual’s right to decide what goes into his or her body and to prevent discrimination, but legislators agreed that, in the case of workplaces, allowing people to avoid vaccinations could affect other people’s health.
Nationally, 62.9 percent of the adult population have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but President Biden has set a 70 percent goal to be achieved by July 4. To entice more people to get vaccinated, he announced rewards such as that announced by Anheuser-Busch, offering a free beer to everyone over 21 once the 70 percent vaccination goal is reached. (The brewing company’s offer is only good for people willing to provide consumer data and photographs to the company for marketing purposes.)
Other companies signing on to the program include CVS, with a sweepstakes offering prizes in the form of cruises and Super Bowl tickets; Major League Baseball will offer on-site vaccine clinics and ticket giveaways; Kroger will award $1 million to a vaccinated person each week in June, and free groceries for a year to others.
Biden also is opening up more vaccination sites and longer hours, as well as working with agencies to provide child care while parents get their shots. “All over the world, people are desperate to get a shot that every American can get at their neighborhood drugstore,” Biden said.
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