Business News
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- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
On EPIMS, applicants can apply for a lake and streambed alteration agreement or written verification that one is not needed, calculate fees, track progress and communicate with staff.
CDFW is incorporating best practices to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19.
In order to minimize disruption to those seeking a state license from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, CDFW is encouraging commercial cannabis cultivators to submit paperwork through its EPIMS portal. Submitting hard copy paperwork could result in a delay of a proposed project.
To start, click here: https://epims.wildlife.ca.gov/index.do .
EPIMS questions? Email
Those seeking more information about current regulatory requirements can view presentations from a recent online permitting workshop at www.wildlife.ca.gov/cannabispermitting .
To learn more about CDFW’s role in cannabis cultivation, please visit wildlife.ca.gov/cannabis or email
Additional details on regulatory compliance can be found at https://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/state-regulators-focus-on-compliance-with-commercial-cannabis-cultivation/ .
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Beginning on Friday, California small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis can apply for a loan from the federal government for up to $10 million.
Importantly, the program is first-come, first-serve and the governor encourages all eligible California small businesses to contact their lender to learn more.
On Thursday, the governor also announced that the state is allocating $50 million to the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank for loan guarantees to small businesses to help eliminate barriers to capital for individuals who do not qualify for federal funds, including low wealth and undocumented immigrant communities.
The state is also allowing small businesses to defer payment of sales and use taxes of up to $50,000, for up to 12 months.
Additionally, the governor joined Bitwise Industries and the Kapor Center to launch www.OnwardCa.org , a new platform connecting displaced California workers with more than 70,000 job opportunities in critical industries.
Earlier this week, Gov. Newsom signed an executive order to help small businesses, granting a 90-day extension for small businesses to pay sales taxes.
Gov. Newsom also on Thursday announced $17.8 million in new state initiatives to support California workers impacted by COVID-19.
The allocation will come from Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds with $7.8 million going to the Los Angeles region and $10 million made available statewide.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is having cascading effects for millions of California families and small businesses,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “Through no fault of their own, more than a million Californians have lost a job and countless more are seeing their businesses fail. California will emerge from this crisis stronger than before, and until then, the state will work overtime with the federal government and private sector to get families the help they need.”
For more information, go to www.covid-19.ca.gov .
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
After hearing that some businesses that had purchased this insurance were getting denied, Thompson and the other signers wrote the below letter to help the businesses get these claims filled so they can remain solvent throughout closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The letter was signed by Representatives Ken Calvert (CA-42), Anna Eshoo (CA-18), Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32), Mike Thompson (CA-05), Adam B. Schiff (CA-28), Jim Costa (CA-16), Doris Matsui (CA-06), Jerry McNerney (CA-09), Jackie, Speier (CA-14), Tom McClintock (CA-04), Judy Chu (CA-27), Ami Bera (CA-07), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Tony Cardenas (CA-29), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36), Eric Swalwell (CA-15), Ted W. Lieu (CA-33), Norma J. Torres (CA-35), Nanette Diaz Barragan (CA-44), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Gilbert R. Cisneros, JR. (CA-39), TJ Cox (CA-21), Josh Harder (CA-10), Mike Levin (CA-49), Katie Porter (CA-45) and a copy is attached.
March 31, 2020
Commissioner Ricardo Lara
Insurance Commissioner
300 Capitol Mall, 17th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Commissioner Lara:
We urge you to exercise all authority to ensure the insurance companies comply with their business interruption policies. During this crisis, we must do everything possible to mitigate the devastating impact on small businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As you know, many businesses have in good faith purchased and paid for business interruption insurance to cover the loss of business income sustained due to a necessary suspension of the business operations. However some insurers are choosing to deny these business interruption claims and not uphold their responsibility to help cover these insured losses. Without immediate action to address the denial of business interruption insurance claims, many businesses like our local restaurants, hotels, bars, small tourist shops and countless other businesses that are staples of our local communities will simply never resume service. California in particular has been battered year after year by earthquakes and fires and small businesses have not fully recovered from those previous disasters.
The coronavirus poses significant challenges to many small businesses and we are urging you to exercise all authority to have insurance companies comply with their business interruption insurance to cover losses caused by a California statewide business shutdown ordered to prevent the spread of coronavirus. During this crisis, we must do what it takes to work together to help our small businesses survive and recover. We appreciate your strong support to help California small business owners remain solvent during the coronavirus pandemic and keep employees on payroll until things stabilize.
Thank you for your leadership attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to working with you until this crisis is resolved.
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- Written by: California Department of Insurance
The data will help state policymakers to understand the scope of insured and uninsured losses to businesses in order to help them recover and keep workers employed.
“The coronavirus crisis is devastating small businesses across our state, throwing people out of work and quickly unraveling our economy,” Commissioner Lara said. “Although many small businesses maintain commercial multi-peril insurance policies with business interruption coverage, they will have large uninsured losses. We are currently working with the insurance industry and business groups to find creative solutions during this unprecedented crisis to make sure our businesses survive, and we need this data to define the size of the problem.”
Commissioner Lara called on the insurance industry to assist small businesses facing layoffs and lost income due to business closures and government actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Insurance company responses to the data call are due by April 9, 2020, and will help the Department understand the number and scope of commercial business interruption type coverages in effect and the approximate number of policies that exclude viruses such as COVID-19. This data will help inform state policymakers on solutions to protect businesses.
The department has posted answers to “Frequently Asked Questions” for businesses to help determine whether they have coverage for lost income due to government-ordered closures.
Commercial multi-peril policies may include coverage for business interruption, however, most have exclusions related to virus contamination and similar perils.
Business owners should check their policy for a specific exclusion for viral/bacterial contamination or an incident triggered by an epidemic/pandemic, which means insurance would likely not cover losses related to COVID-19.
The department will continue to work with the governor, State Legislature, and local leaders on creative ways to help address the urgent need of California’s small businesses.
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