ADA initiates grassroots campaign in response to CARES Act

Washington — The ADA is calling on dentists everywhere to contact their legislators ahead of the Senate’s vote on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. In a March 21 Issues Alert email that went to dentists nationwide, the Association asked dentists to visit the ADA Legislative Action Center to ask their senators and representatives to support key provisions in the CARES Act. The vote is expected to take place March 23. As of 7 p.m., March 22, more than 37,000 dentists had sent more than 106,000 emails to Congress and the number continued to grow at press time.

“You should know that members of Congress in the House and Senate — Republicans and Democrats alike — understand that this bill is critical for small businesses, particularly dentists and dental practices,” the alert said. “They know this because Congress has received over 200,000 emails from over 72,000 dentists. By Washington standards, these are extraordinary numbers! We need to repeat this achievement once more.”

Here is what the ADA is urging lawmakers to include in the final version of the CARES Act so dental practices across the country will have the opportunity to remain open to serve their patients and their communities:

• A variety of enhanced Small Business Administration loan options such as disaster loans, SBA 7(a) Loans and SBA Express Loans that will enable dental practices to quickly receive cash at affordable rates to maintain their practices and serve their patients. The ADA noted that this provision is important because it will allow dentists with these loans to qualify for tax-free loan forgiveness on amounts spent on certain payroll expenses, sick leave and family leave.
• Temporary relief for student loan borrowers to allow individuals with outstanding federal student loans to suspend their student loan payments for three months interest-free, with the possibility to extend the suspension period for an additional three months.
• Expand the secretary of labor’s authority to be able to exempt small businesses with fewer than 50 employees from paid leave provisions.
• Extend rebates by as much as $1,200 for individual tax filers and $2,400 for couples who file joint tax returns with appropriate income limitations.
• Allow individuals to withdraw as much as $100,000 from their retirement accounts through the end of 2020 without penalty.
• Delay payroll taxes for employers and self-employed individuals and defer payment of the employer share of the Social Security tax they are responsible for paying to the federal government for their employees for the following two years.

To contact your members of Congress, visit the ADA Legislative Action Center.

For a comprehensive FAQ to help explain how the federal government is responding to the coronavirus pandemic, visit the House Committee on Ways and Means website.

Visit ADA.org/virus for the latest ADA information on Covid-19.