Key Highlights for Long Island Manufacturing in the CARES ACT
On Friday afternoon, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote. The President then signed the bill into law. The bill builds upon earlier versions of the CARES Act and is intended to be a third round of federal government support in the wake of the coronavirus public health crisis and associated economic fallout, succeeding the $8.3 billion in public health support passed two weeks ago and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. It is the product of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans for a bipartisan response to the crisis
Directs the National Academies to study the manufacturing supply chain of drugs and medical devices and provide Congress with recommendations to strengthen the U.S. manufacturing supply chain.
The following bullet points highlight the CARES ACT implications for Long Island Manufacturing;
· $50 million is provided for the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP’s) to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers recover by finding value within the supply chain and expanding markets. For every one dollar of federal investment, MEP generates $27.20 in new sales growth for manufacturers.
· The bill also includes an additional $10 million for the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals to support the development and manufacture of new medical countermeasures and biomedical supplies to combat the coronavirus.
· The bill provides $1.5 billion for economic adjustment assistance to help revitalize local communities after the pandemic. EDA assistance can be used to help rebuild impacted industries such as tourism or manufacturing supply chains, capitalize local funds to provide low-interest loans to businesses of all sizes and support other locally-identified priorities for economic recovery. Based on the impact of prior funding packages, EDA disaster assistance will leverage an additional $20 billion in local and private investment and support more than 100,000 American jobs.
· $1 billion for the Defense Production Act – This funding allows the Department of Defense to invest in manufacturing capabilities that are key to increasing the production rate of personal protective equipment and medical equipment to meet the demand of healthcare workers all across the nation.
· More than $27 billion for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to support research and development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to prevent or treat the effects of coronavirus, including:
o At least $3.5 billion to advance construction, manufacturing, and purchase of vaccines and therapeutics to the American people. This is in addition to the major investments provided for these activities in the first supplemental.
o Funding for innovations in manufacturing platforms to support a U.S.-sourced supply chain of vaccines, therapeutics, and small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients;
o Funding to support U.S.-based next-generation manufacturing facilities
Tax Foundation 2020 ” Congress Approves Economic Relief Plan” 3/30/19 https://taxfoundation.org/cares-act-senate-coronavirus-bill-economic-relief-plan/
