Legislation Would Help Businesses Implement Coronavirus Prevention Measures

ISSA thanks U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-D) and Kevin Cramer (ND-R) for introducing legislation (S. 4178) establishing a “workplace safety tax credit” to help businesses and nonprofits implement coronavirus infection-prevention measures to keep workers and customers safe. ISSA has been, and continues to be, a supporter of proposals to help workplaces reopen as safely as possible.

If enacted, the workplace safety tax credit would offset the costs of providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to employees, purchasing technology used to protect employees from COVID-19, reconfiguring facilities, and hiring professional cleaning or disinfecting services. All eligible expenses would be explicitly for infection-control and COVID-19 prevention purposes. The tax credit also could defray the costs of setting up a testing program in partnership with a certified diagnostics laboratory or medical provider.

Eligible businesses for the tax credit would include, for instance, retailers, manufacturers, restaurants, offices, service providers such as home health nonprofits, as well as lodging and hospitality businesses. The tax credit would be limited to those companies with fewer than 2,000 full-time employees as well as nonprofits. Eligible expenses would include qualified equipment or services for the purposes of preventing COVID-19 such as the reconfiguration of facilities related to social distancing, education and training for employees on COVID-19 transmission prevention, hiring of professional cleaning services, and the purchase of hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment (PPE), to name a few.

The refundable tax credit would be set against employment taxes. Additionally, the credit would be for 50% of eligible expenses paid or incurred by the employer during each quarter. The credit would be limited to US$500,000 per quarter in 2020. For years 2021 and 2022, the maximum value of the credit would be limited to $250,000 each quarter. A press release from the office of Senator Sinema noted that “Sinema will continue to solicit feedback and seek improvements on the proposal from employers, public health experts, and other stakeholders in the month of July.”

“As employers work to reopen safely and smartly, they have and will continue to invest in cleaning and sanitation services, as well as on PPE to protect workers and customers,” said John Nothdurft, ISSA Director of Government Affairs. “Many businesses continue to struggle financially but also need to comply with federal, state, and local guidelines for reopening safely. The legislation introduced by Senators Sinema and Cramer would help offset some of these significant additional and unplanned expenses. We look forward to working with members of both the Senate and House to pass a bipartisan and commonsense stimulus package—one that includes a tax credit to help employers keep their workers and customers safe, and, in so doing, helps revive our economy.”

ISSA is working diligently to support the full spectrum of the cleaning industry in the U.S. and worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, including providing a variety of government affairs resources to support its members during this challenging time. Please support the ISSA Advocacy Fund in any amount to help the association advocate on behalf of the cleaning industry with regulatory bodies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For questions regarding ISSA’s advocacy efforts, including the association’s response to COVID-19, please contact [email protected].