Government Affairs

March 2020 Government Affairs

Congress Passes COVID-19 Phase 3 Stimulus Package  

Congress recently passed H.R. 748, the CARES Act, which a $2 trillion relief package that will help shore up the U.S. economy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill builds upon the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed recently and contains a number measures aimed at helping a wide range of sectors, especially smaller businesses and  unemployed individuals as well as other measures that are beneficial to building service contractors.

For additional information, contact Kevin McKenney at kmckenney@bscai.org. 

Congress Passes COVID-19 Phase 2 Relief Package

Congress recently passed H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides economic relief to individuals impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.  Among the provisions relevant to BSCAI members, H.R. 6201 requires businesses with fewer than 500 employees and government employers to provide qualified employees with two-weeks of paid sick leave. Each quarter, businesses subject to the requirement are entitled to a fully refundable tax credit equal to 100% of the qualified sick leave wages paid by the employer.

In addition, the legislation mandates businesses with fewer than 500 employees and government employers to provide qualified employees up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. Each quarter, businesses will be entitled to a fully refundable tax credit equal to 100% of the qualified paid family leave wages paid by the employer.

 For additional information, contact Kevin McKenney at kmckenney@bscai.org.   


BSCAI Active on COVID-19 Essential Service Orders

The Building Service Contractors Association International (BSCAI) continues to monitor the evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the BSC industry. As increasing states issue “Shelter at Home” orders, BCS’s can find information on these orders and their definitions of “essential personnel” here.

The U.S Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency released the Memorandum on Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 on March 19. It is important to note that this document is guidance for state and local governments and is non-binding. However, states will be looking to this guidance as they consider various stay-home orders. Refer to the following sections of this memorandum as they relate to BSC’s and the BSC industry.

  • Page 10, under Information Technology, calls out, “Support required for the continuity of services, including janitorial/cleaning personnel.”
  • Page 10, under Other Community-based government operations and essential functions, “workers to ensure continuity of building functions.”
  • Page 10, under Other Community-based government operations and essential functions, “Security staff to maintain building access control and physical security measures.”

BSCAI will continue to monitor state-wide responses to COVID-19 and the associated allocation of “essential” workers. Access BSC-specific COVID-19 resources and news here.

To assist lobbying efforts, BSCAI has created a specific grassroots member alert that members can utilize to urge their officials to protect the building service and cleaning industries. Click here to access a standard message from the BSCAI Action Center that you can easily copy and personalize to send along to your representatives.


Canada Ratifies USMCA Trade Deal

Recently, Canada became the final North American country to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade. Canada joins the U.S. and Mexico in adopting the USMCA which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). With all three parties now approving, the United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced that the USMCA will go into effect on June 1 of this year.