As the second round of money is being distributed via the Paycheck Protection Program, many black business owners are expressing concern over the process, or worse, being completely left out in the cold. The second small business stimulus relief, designed to keep small businesses going during the pandemic, is focused on women and minorities. These requirements, black business owners say, tend to put black entrepreneurs at the end of the line because of how minority is defined. This wide definition, they believe, gives larger white women-, Asian- and Hispanic-owned businesses a leg up in the process.
Alfred A. Edmond Jr., editor at large for Black Enterprise, expresses an even larger consequence of being left out of the funding opportunity. Many small black-owned businesses could simply disappear, changing the social and business landscape in cities like New York, Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
The Pandemic
As the meat supply chain and hog farmers continue to suffer from Covid-19 outbreaks in processing plants, an economist at Kerns & Associates, the firm employed by the National Pork Board, estimates more than 1.5 million hogs will have to be destroyed in the coming weeks as farmers simply run out of space to maintain them.
Farmers and the meat industry continue to grapple with the fallout from coronavirus outbreaks in processing plants. To remedy this, Trump says he will use the Defense Production Act to demand that plants remain in operation. By signing the five-page executive order, Trump will declare these plants as a part of critical infrastructure in the U.S.
After what is being called the worst single outbreak at an assisted living facility in the state of Georgia, three families in Atlanta are suing the Arbor Terrace at Cascade senior care facility for gross negligence after the deaths of sixteen elderly residents who tested positive for the coronavirus. Six states have provided explicit immunity from COVID-19 lawsuits for nursing homes.
A dog in North Carolina has tested positive for coronavirus. The pug, Winston, may be the first dog to have COVID-19 in the U.S. The dog’s owner and several members of the same family have also tested positive.
Beginning May 4, all travelers who travel on a JetBlue planes will be required to wear a face mask over their noses and mouths to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. JetBlue crew members are already mandated to wear masks while working.
The IRS is ordering over 10,000 employees back to work but says they must provide their own face coverings because of lack of personal protective equipment. The workers, who are needed at 10 IRS offices around the country, are part of the first large-scale recall of federal employees since the start of the pandemic. The tax filing deadline for 2019 income tax returns has been extended to July 15.
Politics
In Maryland, three polling centers were open on Tuesday in a special election between Democrat Kweisi Mfume and Republican Kimberly Klacik in a congressional race reshaped by the pandemic. The 7th Congressional District is voting for a candidate to finish the term of the late Democratic lawmaker Elijah Cummings.
Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin scolded big companies – including the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and Shake Shack — for taking loans through the Paycheck Protection Program. He also warned that any company securing loans over $2 million will undergo a full audit.
