U.S. Senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, released details on Wednesday about their continuing efforts on a bill to provide more support for Iowans impacted by the Aug. 10 derecho. The bipartisan bill was introduced with Democratic Senator from California, Dianne Feinstein, and Republic Senators from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy. The Disaster Relief Tax Act of 2020 will provide tax relief for individuals and businesses in Presidentially declared disaster areas for major disasters declared on or after July 1, 2020 through the period ending 60 days after the date of enactment. It will remove penalties for early withdrawals from retirement accounts to provide access to savings, will provide for a tax credit for employee retention during business interruption, encourage charitable giving to affected areas, create special rules for qualified disaster-related personal casualty losses and allow low-income workers to use their previous year’s income to claim certain tax credits. Grassley says the derecho hit Iowa just as the economy was starting to recover from the pandemic. “Iowans will undoubtedly overcome these hardships just as they always do, but they also deserve help. This bipartisan legislation will allow Iowans to keep more of their own hard-earned money to get back on their feet and rebuild after the historic storm,” Grassley says. Ernst says she has traveled to the affected areas and seen first-hand the devastation created by the powerful wind storm. “While the administration has helped provide assistance, we should provide our families, communities and businesses more relief by getting rid of burdensome taxes and penalties, and that’s what this commonsense bipartisan bill would do,” she says.
