Dairy farmers and brewers have joined the groups clamoring for government assistance during the coronavirus situation.
The American Dairy Coalition, which describes itself as “a farmer-led national lobbying organization of progressive, modern dairy farmers,” has issued a statement calling for the Small Business Administration to continue offering farmers funds through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Emergency Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).
The statement notes that the USDA has been offering assistance to farmers, but claims that “the amount of resources in the program won’t come close to break[ing] even.” It calls on Congress to replenish funds for the PPP and EIDL to provide dairy farmers further relief.
Congress in fact replenished the PPP in a near-unanimous vote on April 23, but some observers fear that the $250 billion allocated will soon be exhausted.
Meanwhile, the Beer Institute and the Brewers Association issued a plea for states to defer the collection of excise taxes on beer. They are asking the states to follow the lead of the federal government, which granted a three-month postponement of federal excise tax payments for U.S. brewers in early April.
“Every year, our nation’s beer industry pays more than $1.5 billion in state and local excise taxes. Postponing these payments will allow our nation’s beer industry to continue to support jobs when they need resources to keep American workers on the job,” said Jim McGreevy, president and CEO of the Beer Institute.
