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Congressional lawmakers are taking steps to improve key terms of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help small business borrowers deal with the economic impact of the global pandemic. Under the CARES Act, a portion of PPP loans can be forgiven for the eight week period after origination ...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week released a comprehensive summary of its initiatives and tools to enable fuller reopening of communities and businesses, as all 50 states are taking steps to return to a “new normal” after months of COVID-19 shutdowns and stay-at-home orders...

James Jerrett Didion (Jim) – a pioneer in commercial real estate who served as CEO of CB Richard Ellis and as former Chair of The National Realty Committee (predecessor of The Real Estate Roundtable) – passed away on April 2.

An 11-member industry coalition, including The Real Estate Roundtable, urged Members of Congress on May 14 to consider Opportunity Zones (OZ) rule changes that could spur investment, promote capital formation and bolster job growth in economically disadvantaged communities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic

Roundtable members addressed the challenges and techniques in reopening the workplace in a variety of media outlets this week.

Senate committee hearings on May 12 addressed Covid-19 issues including reopening businesses and schools, legal liability for businesses, and the role of financial regulations in combatting the economic repercussions of the pandemic.

The House of Representatives’ Democratic majority is expected to pass tonight the largest financial stimulus bill in U.S. history to combat the ongoing economic fallout related to the coronavirus pandemic. (H.R. 6800, Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act [“HEROES”] Act)...

Several tax policy issues affected by the coronavirus pandemic were the focus of policymakers’ attention this week in Washington, including:

House Democrats are developing another massive coronavirus aid package as they consider when to return to Washington for a vote – while Republicans have signaled they prefer to pause any negotiations on future pandemic aid until the effectiveness of current programs can be evaluated.

The Federal Reserve yesterday announced an expansion of its $600 billion Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) to help credit flow to small and medium-sized businesses that were in sound financial condition before the pandemic.

Liability concerns in a post-coronavirus world are influencing congressional negotiations about the next pandemic relief package as states move forward on easing business restrictions and employers across the country consider plans to reopen.

Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer discussed the government’s legislative and regulatory responses to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic – and what those policies mean for commercial real estate – in a BisNow webinar yesterday and Real Estate Executive Council Town Hall today.

Moody's Analytics on April 22 unveiled a new tool to help commercial real estate market participants assess how the coronavirus crisis is affecting CRE fundamentals across US markets. The COVID-19 CRE Impact Dashboard is a publically available resource that provides access to economic, property, and construction data, analytics and insights for CRE property types.

The scope of the Federal Reserve’s “Main Street” Lending Programs should be expanded to forestall further disruption and economic dislocations in commercial real estate, according to an April 22 letter sent to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Fed Chairman Jay Powell from The Real Estate Roundtable and Nareit

The Real Estate Roundtable on Tuesday released a video alert focused on tax policy efforts aimed at mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact on commercial real estate. Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer introduces the video with a report on the organization’s various policy efforts ...

A supplemental coronavirus emergency aid measure enacted today replenishes the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which ran out of money after its launch on April 3 due to high demand. A recent Small Business Administration (SBA) report shows real estate, rental and leasing businesses were approved for 79,784 PPP loans totaling more than $10.7 billion (figures through April 16).

The IRS on April 13 issued rules that will help facilitate mortgage modifications and debt work-outs between borrowers and lenders when a loan is held in a mortgage-backed security. The IRS guidance is consistent with the Roundtable’s request on March 20 that Treasury and the IRS take steps to protect private parties from the tax consequences of restructuring debt during the extraordinary and unanticipated COVID-19 pandemic.

Six real estate industry organizations, including The Real Estate Roundtable, wrote to federal regulators on April 14 to communicate the urgent and growing need to include a wider range of investment grade commercial real estate debt instruments in the Fed’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) credit facility. Currently, TALF eligible collateral is limited to triple-A rated tranches of outstanding (legacy) commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS), commercial mortgage loans and newly issued collateralized loan obligations

Real Estate Roundtable members Stanley Chera and Mayer Greenberg, both from New York, passed away this month.