American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: Targeted Assistance to Key Print Verticals
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) passed by Congress one day earlier, into law. ARPA is the sixth major COVID-19 response legislation to become law since the spring of 2020. ARPA includes provisions providing targeted sector-specific assistance to companies within key print verticals. PRINTING United Alliance member companies are urged to share this valuable new policy information with customers as ARPA provisions may provide a lifeline to their businesses.
Specific targeted assistance to print customers includes:
- Restaurants Sector: Provides $28.6 billion to a new “Restaurant Revitalization Fund,” a PPP-like program that will offer grants to restaurants and other small businesses in the food and drink establishments hard-hit by COVID-19 closures and restrictions. Funding would be divided into government-funded grants with a maximum of $10 million per restaurant group of $5 million per individual restaurant location. Eligible businesses include foodservice and drinking establishments that are not part of an affiliated restaurant group with more than 20 location and are not publicly traded. Additional eligibility rules may apply and the SBA is expected to announce these details and open the program “within weeks, not months.”
- Live Events Sector: Provides $1.25 billion for the shuttered venue operators grant program to provide aid to live event and entertainment venues, such as: small movie theaters, museums, live theater venues, zoos and aquariums. This follows the December 2020 passage of the bipartisan “Save Our Stages Act” that created a $15 billion grant program for this sector. The SBA-administered “Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG)” has been criticized for its months-long delayed implementation; SBA has announced it will hold information sessions on eligibility rules at the end of March with the goal of opening the grant applications in April.
The comprehensive ARPA also addressed funding and programs related to vaccines, school re-openings, small business funding, and state and local financial support, unemployment benefits, and health insurance, among other provisions. An overview of ARPA provided by House Democrats can be found here (PDF). A more extensive summary of ARPA provided by the law firm Holland + Knight can be found here (PDF).
PRINTING United Alliance is committed to helping the industry learn how ARPA will affect the industry and member companies, their employees, and their customers. Please see our ARPA Break Out blog posts by topic to learn more. We will continue to update member companies with details of the implementation of ARPA as they roll out in order to help the printing industry best understand the new law’s applicability and requirements.
- American Rescue Plan Act Becomes Law
- American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: Small Business Funding
- American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: Employee Benefits Provisions
- American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: Tax Policy
In this article, Lisbeth addresses the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. More information about ARPA can be found at www.sgia.org or reach out to Lisbeth should you have additional questions specific to how these issues may affect your business: llyons@printing.org.
To become a member of PRINTING United Alliance and learn more about how PRINTING United Alliance subject matter experts can assist your company with services and resources such as those mentioned in this article, please contact the Alliance membership team: 888-385-3588 / membership@printing.org.
Lisbeth Lyons is Vice President, Government & Political Affairs, PRINTING United Alliance, the largest, most comprehensive graphic arts trade association in the country. With more than 20 years of experience representing the voice of business on Capitol Hill, Lisbeth advocates for public policies that protect and advance the economic future of the printing and packaging industry. She oversees PRINTING United Alliance’s legislative, political, and grassroots advocacy initiatives, and has served in executive leadership of multiple successful advocacy campaigns, such as Coalition for Paper Options, Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, and Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers Coalition.
Prior to representing PRINTING United Alliance, Lisbeth served in similar roles at Printing Industries of America, US Telecom, and the National Federation of Independent Business. She also spent three years as a K-12 teacher in the Chicago Public Schools system, where she was on the forefront of urban education reform in the mid-1990s.
Lisbeth is Midwestern born and bred, having grown up in the St. Louis metropolitan area and attended college at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, before starting her career in Washington, DC. She holds a B.A. in English/Sociology and a professional graduate certificate from The George Washington University School of Political Management. She lives in the historic Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC.
An avid leader and learner in professional development, Lisbeth was a founding member of the Government Relations Leadership Forum, and is an active participant in organizations such as Council of Manufacturing Associations, Women in Government Relations, and National Association of Business PACs, among others. Lisbeth is often a featured speaker at premier industry conferences; she has spoken to Boards of Directors, corporate executive management teams, and state and regional trade associations across the country from coast to coast.
