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Page 4 January 2021 Deadline March 31 for next round of PPP loans The federal Small Business Administration has completed its rules for the second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Applications for the loans must be submitted by March 31. According to the National Newspaper Association, potential borrowers must have: • Received a first loan under the CARES Act in 2020; • Used the 2020 loan proceeds or will use the proceeds before the disbursement is made for the new 2021 loan; • Show the newspaper has fewer than 300 employees; • Show that you experienced at least a 25 percent reduction in gross receipts in 2020. (Note: The reduction is measured by a single quarter of 2020 compared to the corre- sponding quarter in 2019. Borrowers may apply again for 2.5 months of payroll costs up to $2 million, calculated in the same fashion as the first loan. To determine payroll, businesses may use as a base 12 months prior to the loan or use 2019 payroll as the measure. (Note: since this is a second loan, lenders will already have your documenta- tion from 2019.) Newspapers in larger groups that were not eligible for the first loans may be eligible now under an affiliate rule. Check with your lender. This information was disseminated by NNA on Jan. 8, so you should check with your lender to verify your status as to eligibility for a loan under this second round of funding. Connect with us. Follow HSPA on Twitter & Facebook. @OurRight2Know, facebook.com/HoosierStatePressAssociation NMA, NNA join challenge of order eliminating limits on postal rate increases Staff Reports News Media Alliance The News Media Alliance and the National Newspaper Associa- tion – representing thousands of local newspapers across the United States – have joined a legal challenge of an order by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) that would effectively eliminate a Congressionally-mandated limit on postal rate increases for Periodicals and Marketing Mail, which since 2006 has required postal rate increases to remain within a statutory price cap tied to the Consumer Price Index. The two newspaper associations report that under the new rate- setting system, the U.S. Postal Service will be able to increase the postage assessed to newspapers by roughly 9% annually over the next five years. Rate changes of this magnitude would be unsustainable for newspapers and could force small market and community newspapers to close their doors. The Postal Regulatory Commis- sion order could add up to postage increases of 45% over five years. The current pricing structure has provided newspapers and other mailers with smaller, more predictable rate increases, which has convinced businesses to keep mail volume in the postal system. Removing the statutory rate cap will ultimately weaken the nation's postal system through the loss of mail volume and revenue, said NNA and News Media Alliance. David Chavern, president and CEO of the News Media Alliance, said, "The PRC is placing the Postal Service's balance sheet problems – which Congress can fix – on local newspapers and other mailers at the worst possible time. As many newspapers are the only source of local news about a community, this will undoubtedly increase the number of "news deserts" across the country." "Our organizations did not take lightly the decision to sue, given the financial stresses both upon the Postal Service and the industry," Brett Wesner, president of Wesner Publications (Cordell, Oklahoma) and chair of the National Newspa- per Association, said. "But the law is unclear about whether the PRC has the authority to eliminate the statutory price cap. Clearly the PRC believes it has this authority and is prepared to give the Postal Service the ability to raise rates substantially above the cap. Because Congress left the question of this authority so murky, we must now turn to the courts for the answer," Wesner said. The new rate- setting system, the U.S. Postal Service will be able to increase the postage assessed to newspapers by roughly 9% annually over the next five years. Dreamstine photo illustration. "Our organizations did not take lightly the decision to sue ..." — Brett Wesner, president of Wesner Publications (Cordell, Oklahoma), chair of the National Newspaper Association

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