Coronavirus update – April 1, 2020

All – I hope you’re taking care of yourselves, and doing everything you can to stay healthy during this time.

I wanted to update everyone on a few things.

First, the Kansas Department of Labor is swamped with historically a high number of unemployment claims. I know that doesn’t do a thing to help you or your family if you’ve lost your job. But the Governor and the Secretary of Labor are doing yeoman’s work to reallocate resources to get things moving. Don’t give up – keep making the calls and stay on the line. I hope they’ll get this figured out soon. And I’m so sorry that you aren’t getting what you need right now. If you have repeated problems that don’t seem to be getting addressed, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Unemployment benefits – www.GetKansasBenefits.com OR www.dol.ks.gov

Reset passwords – https://www.getkansasbenefits.gov/ContactFormClaimant.aspx

Business information help – https://www.getkansasbenefits.gov/ContactForm.aspx.

Business questions about work share – KDOL.SharedWork@ks.gov

KDOL FAQ at https://www.getkansasbenefits.gov/FAQs.aspx.

Weekly claim information – https://klic.dol.ks.gov/gsipub/index.asp?docid=735

https://klic.dol.ks.gov/admin/gsipub/htmlarea/uploads/UI%20Weekly%20Review.pdf

 

If you’re looking for work, there are some fields that are hiring. Despite the record number of layoffs, there are some industries that are experiencing increased demand for employees. The Department of Commerce has put together information on its website to help you find these jobs. Additionally, there’s a great deal of information there about federal resources designed to help small businesses weather this uncertain time. Again, if you have questions that you aren’t getting answered, don’t hesitate to ask me to help.

Information on places that are hiring: https://www.kansascommerce.gov/covid-19-response/covid-19-jobs-and-hiring-portal/

Information on business resources: https://www.kansascommerce.gov/covid-19-response/

 

Kansas Department of Health and Environment is still your best resource for information. There are daily updates, and useful information for families and business. https://govstatus.egov.com/coronavirus

Additionally, there’s a new map and data site that is updated daily. This provides considerably more information about the spread of Covid-19 in Kansas. This is the map for April 1, but you can access the map through the main KDHE Coronavirus site.

Executive Orders issued by Gov. Laura Kelly https://governor.kansas.gov/newsroom/executive-orders/

Kansas Department of Education https://www.ksde.org/

And Kansas State Board of Education https://www.ksde.org/Board

 

Federal response

If you want to dig through at 1,400 page bill, here’s a link for that https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20059055/final-final-cares-act.pdf

Here’s information from the Small Business Administration: https://www.sba.gov/page/guidance-businesses-employers-plan-respond-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Here’s the information from the Department of Treasury: https://home.treasury.gov/cares

The IRS has released some information about the economic impact payments: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic-impact-payments-what-you-need-to-know

And some info on Paid Leave: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/covid-19-related-tax-credits-for-required-paid-leave-provided-by-small-and-midsize-businesses-faqs

There’s also some information about an employee retention credit: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/faqs-employee-retention-credit-under-the-cares-act

Also, here’s some information about the Paid Family leave Congress passed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employer-paid-leave

If you’re not following Dr. Lee Norman on Twitter, you should. Do it here. Aside from the useful information you’ll get, you’ll have the chance to see him answer Coronavirus questions from kids – which might be the best thing you’ll see this month. Yes, even better than Tiger King.

 

We’re going to be in for a challenging month in April. The stay at home order will continue. We’re being told the peak of this won’t hit until April 24. We’re experiencing things we haven’t experienced before, and we’re navigating things we haven’t navigated before. Patience and grace will be needed to get through this. As well as creativity, resourcefulness, and perserverance. It’s OK to feel uneasy. I feel uneasy. I have friends who are losing their jobs. I have friends who don’t know how to keep their business afloat during this. I’m worried about people who struggled with lonliness, or addiction, before this started, who during this time can’t get the resources they need to maintain their lives, or their sobriety. I’m worried about people who where just starting to get ahead, who might have just lost their jobs. The world is shifting in ways we couldn’t have imagined. But, we have each other. We have our community. And this won’t last forever.

Take care, and stay healthy.

 

Jason