CASA Submits Letter on Fourth Federal Relief Package
Last week, CASA sent a letter to the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) outlining policy priorities that Congress should address in the fourth federal relief package. The letter was also forwarded to the entire California Congressional Delegation. In the letter, CASA is urging Congress to address several significant issues including enhanced ratepayer assistance, clarifications on assistance eligibility and tax treatment of public agencies, and longer-term infrastructure needs.

  • Ratepayer Assistance: Include direct assistance to low-income ratepayers and other ratepayers in the upcoming fourth relief package. CASA is urging Congress to provide at least $3 billion in direct federal assistance to support ratepayers and ensure utilities have a revenue source to offset incurred losses from the COVID-19 crisis.
  • Equal Tax Treatment for the Public Sector: Under the recent federal relief packages, the private sector was provided emergency paid family and sick leave tax credits. However, the public sector was exempted from these tax credits. CASA is urging that the emergency paid family and sick leave tax credits be extended to the public sector in the fourth package.
  • Special District Eligibility for Direct Assistance: CASA requests that Congress clarify the definition of state and local government to specifically include political subdivisions of a state to capture special districts. This clarification would allow special districts to eligible to receive financial assistance that the CARES Act extended to state and local agencies.
  • Size Limitation on Assistance: The CARES Act provided financial support to State and local governments with populations greater than 500,000. CASA is urging Congress to correct this population threshold limitation to include special districts and local governments with populations fewer than 500,000.
  • Bond Purchases: The CARES Act authorized the Federal Reserve to purchase, sell, or trade municipal obligations to ensure liquidity of financial markets. CASA is asking Congress to review whether the $400 billion in authorized activity is adequate given the scale of the COVID-19 crisis, and requests that advance refunding of tax-exempt bonds be reinstated.
  • Infrastructure Needs: CASA is urging Congress to continue to support the financial needs of the nation’s wastewater and water infrastructure by providing at least $40 billion to support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program.

CASA Supports Rep. Cox’s Dear Colleague Letter
Representative TJ Cox (D-CA) has written a Dear Colleague letter urging House and Senate leadership to make state and local governments eligible to receive emergency paid family and sick leave tax credits in the upcoming fourth federal relief package. CASA is listed as a supporting organization of the letter, which has bipartisan support in the House.

Under the recent federal relief packages, the private sector was granted eligibility to receive emergency paid family and sick leave tax credits. However, this eligibility was not extended to public employers, despite the fact that public employees are eligible to receive emergency paid leave. Representative Cox is calling on leadership to amend this issue and extend these emergency tax credits to the public sector in the fourth economic relief package expected later this month. CASA is supportive of this effort and will continue to make it a priority.