Kang Haggerty News
It has been about a month since the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was passed, yet the allocated funds, particularly for small business forgivable loans, were quickly exhausted. To that end, Congress drafted the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement (“PPPHCE”) Act, which passed in the Senate on April 21st, and is scheduled for a House vote tomorrow, Thursday, April 23rd.
The PPPHCE Act aims to replenish the funds that were quickly claimed in the days since the CARES Act was passed. For example, if passed, the PPPHCE Act would provide an additional $310 billion in funding to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). Originally, the PPP had $349 billion available in forgivable loans for small businesses. The program’s launch was bumpy – many could not access the portals to apply, and even those who could apply complained of an obtuse application process and a lack of updates on their status. Despite these hitches, the initial funds were all allocated within two weeks of opening the application process, leaving many applicants without confirmed loans. If passed, the PPPHCE Act replenishes funds available for PPP but again on a first-come, first-served basis.
The total amount provided by the PPPHCE hovers at about $484 billion. Although most of the money is going to the PPP, billions of other dollars are going to places such as community lenders, hospitals, funding for testing, and emergency disaster loans and grants.
Two recent Executive Orders by Governor Murphy create effective moratorium for termination of insurance and cancellation of cable services during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Additional Executive Orders geared towards limiting the spread of COVID-19 implemented by Governor Phil Murphy over the weekend including EO122 and 125, providing further restrictions on essential-business (retail stores and construction operations) to ensure the safety of their employees and consumers. Notably, the orders also provide for safety measures required to be taken consumers.
On Tuesday, New Jersey Governor Murphy issued the most recent in a series of orders intended to combat the COVID-19 crises, Executive Order No. 119, extending the current health emergency in the state by another 30 days. This means that, as it stands, the current public health emergency in New Jersey will last at least until May 8, 2020. 
As reported in our March 25th update, New Jersey – by Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 109 – directed businesses to submit inventories on personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and similar equipment. On April 2, 2020 in Executive Order 113, Governor Murphy has now authorized the Office of Emergency Management to repossess and reallocate such resources to meet the State’s needs. 
Among the various challenges businesses are facing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, one is particularly garnering attention – the issue of business interruption insurance policies which are not being paid out to those who have faced losses due to coronavirus-related business closures. Business interruption insurance is designed to replace business income lost due to forced closure, typically due to natural disaster-related property damage, and is intended to cover operating expenses during the closure. Like elsewhere in the United States, governments in Pennsylvania and New Jersey responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by, among other measures, closing non-essential businesses unless remote work is available. In light of these closures, many businesses turned to their business interruption insurance policies, only to find 
Last Updated: April 3, 2020