Healthy Workplace Tax Credit Supports Economic Recovery

Our Lancaster County community has come together throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to gain control of this deadly virus. Our efforts to mitigate the spread are working and we are currently seeing low rates of new cases and hospitalizations but we cannot let up now. It is critical that we remain vigilant as we safely continue to reopen our economy.

As we begin returning to work, it is important to take the necessary precautions that ensure a safe environment. I am a cosponsor of H.R. 7615, which would create the Healthy Workplaces Tax Credit, introduced by Rep. Tom Rice (SC-7) to help ensure that our small businesses are able to take the steps necessary to provide a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. The legislation would provide a refundable tax credit for small businesses to help cover the increased costs incurred by the business for COVID-19 testing, personal protection equipment (PPE), disinfecting, extra cleaning, and reconfiguring workspaces.

Congress must continue to support small businesses many of which are financially stressed due to months of being shutdown or operating at limited capacity and now are incurring costs they did not initially plan on to reopen safely and protect workers. Since the start of the pandemic, we have already read too many headlines or heard stories of small businesses owners who have been forced to close their businesses forever.

When a business closes, the outcome is not just an empty store front and a locked door. It's a small business owner unable to pay her mortgage, it's her employees struggling to pay bills, trying to find assistance to care for her family. It is a sense of loss for our community, which hurts far more than just vacant real estate.

Through the CARES Act, Congress has provided unprecedented direct financial support to individuals through Economic Impact Payments and to small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which preserved 1.8 million jobs in Pennsylvania, according to the Small Business Administration.

The CARES Act also provided $95 million in direct financial support to the County of Lancaster to respond to this unprecedented challenge. Our Board of Commissioners, in partnership with the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Corporation of Lancaster County, are utilizing these funds to provide PPE and grants to small businesses. More information about these programs utilizing federal funds provided by the CARES Act is available at RecoveryLancaster.com.

Our economy will continue to recover. We have already seen encouraging signs of our economy coming back in recent monthly jobs reports and reports of small business confidence increasing. As Congress continues negotiations on the next steps of our response to COVID-19, I am hopeful the Healthy Workplaces Tax Credit is included in the next legislative package, as it is another tool Congress can use to support small businesses and hard-working Americans.