In an early June letter to all Members of Congress, FMA National President Craig Carter expressed support for hazard pay, protecting leave, and including 501(c)(6) associations – such as FMA – in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

“FMA is grateful for the swift work of Congress and the administration in passing the CARES Act and other stimulus bills during this unprecedented time,” he wrote. The letter addressed:

• Support for Hazard Premium Pay – Support of the provision for hazard pay included in the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (H.R. 6800), providing a “Heroes Fund” to pay essential workers who could not telework an extra $13 per hour during the pandemic, retroactive to January 27. Many mission-critical jobs, such as maintenance on aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, take place on worksites where social distancing is not possible. 

• Federal Frontline Worker Leave Protection Act (H.R. 6733) – As described in detail in another article, this bill would modify existing law to add work responding to Covid-19 as an allowable exception to permit feds to carry over annual leave to the following year, and provides common-sense protection and assurance for essential federal employees on the frontline who cannot take time off due to the COVID-19 battle. 

• Inclusion of Associations in PPP – The letter also urged Congress to include Section 501(c)(6) nonprofit associations – like FMA – in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) within legislation now under consideration. “The association community, alongside workers, businesses and other nonprofits across the country, continues to suffer immense harm from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Carter wrote. “Their measurable economic benefits include more than 1.3 million jobs for Americans and a total payroll of more than $55 billion. Without access to the PPP, nonprofit associations will be forced to reduce staff and could even cease operations. This is a result of insurmountable revenue loss from event cancellations and amid membership declines.” In our case, COVID-19 forced FMA to cancel our 82nd annual National Convention and Management Training Seminar, which was scheduled in late-March through early-April. This is FMA’s premiere event each year, and cancelling it had a profound impact on FMA’s operations,” Carter concluded.