Here are five things that happened this past month that affect your small business. 

1) The Senate passed a $1.2T infrastructure package.
At the beginning of August, the Senate passed a bipartisan infrastructure package, “the largest upgrade to the country’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and broadband in decades.” There are a few steps left before this bill becomes law, but it is expected to make its way through the House of Representatives and be signed by President Biden. (Source: The Washington Post) 

Why this is important for your business:

Many aspects of the bill present revitalization prospects for small businesses, including the money set aside for broadband and power infrastructure.

2) We are better understanding how many workers retired early during the pandemic.

“Roughly 2 million more people than expected have joined the ranks of the retired during the pandemic,” according to a new analysis. Some of these workers chose to retire early, while others “were forced into retirement after losing their jobs or quitting out of fears of exposure to COVID-19.” (Source: NPR) 

3) The government opened a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness portal. 

To help expedite the process of getting PPP loans forgiven, a new portal was opened “through which small businesses that borrowed up to $150,000 can apply to have their loans eliminated.” About 92% of PPP loans fall under this cap. However, some lenders – including some larger banks – are choosing not to use the portal and to stick with their own processes instead. (Source: The New York Times) 

See this related post from Dennis Harabin: The Art of Running a Successful Family Business: Breaking Things Down

At its core, a family business is exactly what it sounds like: a company or other enterprise owned, operated, and actively managed by at least two people from the same family. This can be a parent and their kids, two siblings, or some other configuration — it doesn't actually matter, as the management is made up of people with some type of similar close relation.

4) A judge ruled that California’s gig worker initiative (Proposition 22) is unconstitutional.

A California judge has ruled that Proposition 22 – a 2020 ballot measure exempting ride-share and food delivery drivers (think Uber, Doordash, and Instacart) from a state labor law – is unconstitutional “as it infringes on the legislature's power to set workplace standards.” (Source: Reuters) 

5) Consumer sentiment hit a pandemic-era low as fears over the delta variant rise. 

The consumer sentiment index fell to 70.2 in the preliminary August reading from the University of Michigan. “That is down more than 13% from July’s result of 81.2 and below the April 2020 mark of 71.8 that was lowest of the pandemic era.” It was also the lowest reading for that measure since 2011. This comes as the delta variant of Covid-19 spreads rapidly across the US, leading to some states reinstating health restrictions. 

(Source: CNBC)

If you have questions or concerns, please contact our office at 551-249-1040 for assistance. 

Do you have some questions? Dennis Harabin at Relax Tax can answer them!

Recommended Readings: 

• Distributed Workforce Businesses Are Facing Challenges as They Adapt to Remote Employees
• What Can Business Budgeting Do To Your Business
• Let's Talk About Business Financing
• How To Know If Your Business Is No Longer a “Startup”?
• Why You Need a Financial Advisor Even More in Uncertain Times

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