I hope you are continuing to stay well. As future COVID-19 vaccine appointments become available, please see this article for tips on how to ease your appointment scheduling process. It is important to also be aware of fake vaccine websites, as scammers are using vaccines to take advantage of consumers. 

Please read below for updates on children returning to in-person learning, tax season resources, and my work here in Washington, DC. Find a survey in this newsletter on returning to schools below to participate in the conversation!

Getting Our Kids Back to School

I am pleased to see a majority of schools in our community returning to in-person learning. As a father of a 5 year old, I know the difficulties remote learning has placed upon both children and parents. If you are unsure of where your child's school district stands in the reopening process, please be directed to my website with weekly education updates here. 

In Congress, I am continuing to advocate for children to return to in-person learning. I recently joined the House Floor and called on all Members of Congress to work together and re-open schools across the country. Watch my full remarks above, and feel welcome to participate in my survey below.   

Do you agree that all schools need to re-open for in-person learning?

COVID-19 Stimulus Cost

The United States’ borrowing costs are increasing in light of our economic recovery and immense federal spending, with the yield on a 10-year note rising from 0.91% in January 2021 to 1.34% today. It’s important to understand how this dramatic rise in rates will translate to our government’s borrowing costs. If rates hold constant over the next 10 years, we could see $1.3 trillion in additional federal borrowing costs. But yields have already overshot CBO’s projected increases, as shown below.

In the past year, Congress has approved nearly $4 trillion in relief to support our workers and businesses. While I do believe we have more work to do to ensure our economic recovery is strong, I disagree that adding an additional $1.9 trillion in spending is the appropriate approach, particularly as we see the Democrat's package includes millions of dollars unrelated to COVID-19.  

I wanted to provide you this update to create a discussion on the depth and impact the COVID-19 relief package has, and the importance of focusing on targeted relief measures. If you would like to receive additional economic updates like this, be sure to subscribe to the Joint Economic Committee's newsletter here. 

Tax Tips

This tax season may look a little different. The IRS has announced taxpayers expecting to receive a refund during this year’s filing season may encounter delays, so be sure to begin filing your 2020 taxes as soon as possible electronically here. The IRS offers a wide-range of resources to help ease your filing process, including their Free File Tool. Additionally, you can visit my website for more #SchweikertTaxTips and follow along with the hashtag on Twitter for frequent updates.

If you have any other concerns, please feel welcome to check the IRS's website for additional free services and other helpful checklists and FAQs.

Important PPP Updates for Small Businesses 

The Small Business Administration (SBA) today announced changes to the Paycheck Protection Program that may affect you if you are a small business owner. I encourage you to read through these updates in case they may apply to you. 

The 14-day exclusivity period will start on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 9 a.m., while the other four changes will be implemented by the first week of March. The SBA is working on the program changes and will communicate details throughout this week, so be sure to check their website here for any updates. 

I appreciate you taking the time to read my weekly e-Newsletter. If my office can ever be of service to you, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. 

Sincerely,
David Schweikert