That financial aid that would be provided by the proposed federal coronavirus relief package would be welcome, but more is needed long term, ASTA said Wednesday.
In a statement issued after the introduction of the Bipartisan Covid-19 Emergency Relief Act of 2020, the Society's president and CEO, Zane Kerby, said the package has a number of provisions ASTA has advocated for.
Zane Kerby
That includes the ability for companies to apply for another Paycheck Protection Program loan, tax deductibility on PPP loan proceeds and an extension of unemployment programs for independent contractors and furloughed employees through March.
"The bill sponsors designed this package as a three-month bill and recognize that more support for hard-hit businesses will be needed next year, a sentiment we welcome given the catastrophic impact of Covid-19 on our part of the travel industry and the long anticipated recovery timeline," Kerby said. "While we support this bipartisan bill as meaningful progress, we believe that next year a more comprehensive package targeted at the travel industry and others like it hit hardest by Covid will be needed beyond this temporary bridge to March 2021."
ASTA is encouraging advisors to use its online grassroots portal to get in touch with legislators and encourage them to pass the bill.
Since the Cares Act was introduced in March, no additional federal aid has been provided that would help travel agencies. Legislators have been at an impasse for months on additional legislation.
An ASTA survey conducted over the summer found that the vast majority of agencies, more than 86%, would have to close their doors within one year without more relief.
"The situation has only become more challenging since then, even though the prospect of widespread vaccine distribution provides some home for 2021," Kerby said.