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    Presidential Executive Orders of August 8, 2020

    IAAI Comments are in italics: As of July 31, 2020, several laws and/or regulations to fight the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic ended. In the middle of a national election this year, Congress failed to pass legislation to extend these items. Nothing contained in this article is intended as any political opinion.

    The president signed four executive orders on August 8, 2020 to continue to provide some relief. These four executive orders were:

      1. Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations.
      2. Memorandum on Authorizing the Other Needs Assistance Program (includes $400 weekly additional unemployment benefit).
      3. Executive Order Providing Relief for Renters and Homeowners.
      4.  Memorandum on Continued Student Loan Payment Relief.

    IAAI Comment: Executive orders do not have the force of actual laws and are limited is scope.  These orders might be challenged in courts, and court determinations are unknown. Hopefully, Congress will continue to negotiate the emergency Covid-19 bills which may eventually become actual laws – laws which will replace these presidential executive orders.

    Meanwhile, here are some of the details of these August 8, 2020 presidential orders:

      1. Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to use his authority pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 508A to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of the 6.2% social security on wages or compensation paid during the period of September 1, 2020, through December 31,2020, subject to the following conditions:
        a) The deferral shall be made available with respect to any employee the amount of whose wages or compensation, as applicable, payable during any bi-weekly pay period generally is less than $4,000, calculated on a pre-tax basis, or the equivalent amount with  respect to  other pay periods.
        b) Amounts deferred pursuant to the implementation of this memorandum shall be deferred without any penalties,  interest,  additional amount, or addition to the tax.  The Secretary of the Treasury shall explore avenues, including legislation, to eliminate the obligation to pay the taxes deferred pursuant to the implementation of this memorandum.

    IAAI Comment: This 6.2% tax deferral appears to apply to both the worker’s withholding, and the employer’s withholding. This is a DEFERRAL, not an elimination of the 6.2% tax during the period of September 1 through December 31, 2020. It is hoped that actual Congressional legislation with result in the ELIMINATION of the 6.2% tax during this period.

    Memorandum on Authorizing the Other Needs Assistance Program (includes $400 weekly additional unemployment benefit). The Secretary of Labor, acting through the FEMA Administrator, shall, subject to the limitations above, approve a lost wages assistance program that authorizes the Governor of each state to provide a $400 payment per week, which shall reflect a $300 Federal contribution (and $100 from state funds), to eligible claimants from the week of unemployment ending August 1, 2020. the term “Eligible claimants” means claimants who:
    (i) receive, for the week lost wages assistance is sought, at least $400 per week of any of the following benefits:
    (A) Unemployment compensation, including Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) and Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX), under section 8501 of title 5, United States Code;
    (B) Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), under section 2107 of the CARES Act;
    (C) Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), under section 2102 of the CARES Act;
    (D) Extended Benefits (EB), under section 3304 of title 26, United States Code;
    (E) Short-Time Compensation (STC), under section 3306(v) of title 26, United States Code;
    (F) Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA), under sections 2291 through 2293 of title 19, United States Code; and
    (G) Payments under the Self-Employment Assistant (SEA) program, under section 3306(t) of title 26, United States Code; and
    (ii) provide self-certification that the claimant is unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by COVID-19. 3. Executive Order Providing Relief for Renters and Homeowners. Prior to passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development implemented a foreclosure and eviction moratorium for all single-family mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Furthermore, prior to passage of the CARES Act, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it had instructed the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (the Enterprises) to suspend foreclosures for at least 60 days. FHFA has since announced that the Enterprises will extend the foreclosure suspension until at least August 31, 2020. (The intention is to extend this suspension until December 31, 2020.)
    (a) The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of CDC shall consider whether any measures temporarily halting residential evictions of any tenants for failure to pay rent are reasonably necessary to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 from one State or possession into any other State or possession.
    (b) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall identify any and all available Federal funds to provide temporary financial assistance to renters and homeowners who, as a result of the financial hardships caused by COVID-19, are struggling to meet their monthly rental or mortgage obligations.
    (c) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall take action, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to promote the ability of renters and homeowners to avoid eviction or foreclosure resulting from financial hardships caused by COVID-19. Such action may include encouraging and providing assistance to public housing authorities, affordable housing owners, landlords, and recipients of Federal grant funds in minimizing evictions and foreclosures.
    (d) In consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of FHFA shall review all existing authorities and resources that may be used to prevent evictions and foreclosures for renters and homeowners resulting from hardships caused by COVID-19.

    4. Memorandum on Continued Student Loan Payment Relief. In light of the national emergency declared on March 13, 2020, the Secretary of Education shall take action pursuant to applicable law to effectuate appropriate waivers of and modifications to the requirements and conditions of economic hardship deferments described in section 455(f)(2)(D) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1087e(f)(2)(D), and provide such deferments to borrowers as necessary to continue the temporary cessation of payments and the waiver of all interest on student loans held by the Department of Education until December 31, 2020. (Currently the waivers expire September 30, 2020.)
    IAAI Comment: At this time, these executive orders do not include any additional Emergency Impact Payments (EIP) (also known as Stimulus Payments) beyond the original $1,200 per person, and $500 for certain dependents paid earlier in 2020.

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