In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed a series of legislations including the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” or the “CARES Act”, which was signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020. The CARES Act is designed to provide economic relief for individuals and small businesses who have suffered economic hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic. The $2 trillion CARES package is the largest financial support package in U.S. history.

Overview

This article breaks down the CARES Act (hereinafter, “CARES”) by first analyzing the economic relief provided to individuals followed by small businesses.

The most commonly sought relief under CARES with regard to individuals includes the stimulus checks for people who fall within certain income thresholds, an increase in unemployment benefits, temporary student loan suspensions and modification of retirement plans.

In order to provide economic relief to small businesses, CARES grants the authority to the Small Business Administration (hereinafter, “SBA”) to allocate $377 billion to small businesses that have experienced economic disruptions due to COVID-19 through two loan programs: expansion of the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and creation of the Paycheck Protection Program.
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