%1

The U.S. Senate delayed the start of debate on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill until at least Thursday after reaching a deal to phase out $1,400 payments to higher-income Americans in a compromise with moderate Democratic senators, Reuters reported. The Democratic-controlled Senate is hoping for a final vote later in the week on passage of Biden’s top legislative priority. Before the bill hits the chamber floor, Democrats are negotiating limits to a measure Republicans have attacked as wasteful. The Senate will reconvene at noon on Thursday, said Senator Dick Durbin, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat. The House of Representatives canceled its Thursday session after the Capitol Police warned of a possible attack on the building by a militia group. Senate officials did not respond to questions about whether their security plans would change. Senate Democrats said the coronavirus stimulus proposal, which would block Americans earning $80,000 per year or more and couples earning $160,000 or more from receiving the $1,400 payments, was a good solution.

Small-business requests for money from the federal government’s signature COVID-19 relief initiative are running well below last year’s heady pace, prompting changes in the program’s final month to reach the hardest-hit businesses, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Small Business Administration yesterday released new guidance on the changes to the Paycheck Protection Program. It revamped the formula for calculating loans to sole proprietors and some other businesses, making the program more attractive to the smallest firms. Justin Burgess of Deco-Dence Gallery & Studio, a dealer of art deco furniture and a custom-furniture maker in Dallas, had initially decided not to apply for a second PPP loan this year after receiving $3,000 in 2020. “It was just a pittance,” said Mr. Burgess, whose sales have fallen by roughly 50% during the pandemic. “It was a lot of work for very little return.” The new approach should “make it much more advantageous,” said Mr. Burgess, who now plans to apply for a second loan. SBA data as of Feb. 28 show the agency had approved 2.2 million PPP loans totaling about $156 billion — just over half the funds available — during the newest round. After closing last August, the PPP reopened in January with $284 billion in funding to provide forgivable loans to first- and second-time borrowers. The deadline for applications is March 31.

The former owner of New York Sports Clubs and Lucille Roberts will forfeit a $250,000 bond to settle New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit over its billing practices during the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. James had sued Town Sports International Holdings Inc in September, saying it kept charging membership dues, failed to issue promised credits, and refused to honor cancellation requests after the pandemic forced it to close its New York gyms last March. The settlement papers were filed in a New York state court in Manhattan on Wednesday. Town Sports did not admit liability. James had sued Town Sports in September, two weeks after the company filed for chapter 11 protection. A group of lenders led by private equity firm Tacit Capital later took control of many Town Sports assets in exchange for $80 million in debt. Town Sports is now winding down. James plans to provide restitution to gym members with the $250,000 bond, which Town Sports posted in 2015 under a state law to protect those members during a bankruptcy.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas Holdings LLC, a theater chain offering moviegoers seat-side food service, beer and themed cocktails, has filed for bankruptcy while planning to sell the business to Fortress Investment Group LLC and other investors, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Austin, Texas-based Alamo became the latest theater business forced into chapter 11 as a result of seismic changes to the movie industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cinemas across the U.S. either remain closed or are operating at reduced capacity while major film studios either delay or bypass theater releases in favor of streaming services. Alamo, which operates 41 company-owned and franchised cinemas, temporarily shut its locations last March and put in place a number of cost-saving measures to withstand the pandemic, including furloughing most staff. The company came up with ways to generate revenue as well, including renting out theaters for private screenings and launched a video-on-demand platform called “Alamo On Demand.” Despite these steps, a cash crunch continued throughout 2020 amid unprecedented industry conditions, Alamo Chief Financial Officer Matthew Vonderahe said in a declaration filed yesterday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

President Joe Biden’s imperative of swiftly passing his $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief program faces one of its final hurdles: settling disputes among Senate Democrats over how to ensure aid gets to those who truly need it, Bloomberg News reported. With Republicans accusing Democrats of advancing a mammoth spending bill just as the economy is poised to accelerate, a handful of moderate senators is pushing for changes that reduce the risk of assistance flowing to households relatively unscathed by the crisis or to individuals who’d otherwise head back to work. The Biden administration has consistently argued that the risk of going too small is greater than the danger of excess spending. The president has urged Democrats, above all, to get the bill passed quickly. The Senate is planning to formally open debate on the pandemic-relief bill as soon as Wednesday afternoon. Senior Democratic lawmakers gave every indication that their caucus will be able to sort through the debate over potential tweaks to the proposed $400-a-week supplemental unemployment benefit and $1,400 stimulus checks included in the House version of the aid bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the package is on track to get to Biden by March 14, when the current benefit of $300 a week in help to the jobless runs out. The House version of the aid plan bumps that benefit up to $400 a week through August, and that’s been a point of contention. Joe Manchin of West Virgina and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire want to keep the level at $300. Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders is among those pushing for the higher total.

Private equity-owned stationary and gifts retailer Paper Source Inc. filed for bankruptcy, planning to permanently close some stores and sell itself to an affiliate of asset manager Apollo Global Management Inc. in exchange for debt relief, subject to better offers, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Chicago-based Paper Source filed for chapter 11 protection Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., becoming the latest retail chain pushed into bankruptcy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Paper Source said its business was strong and growing until it was forced to temporarily close all of its nearly 160 stores last March in response to COVID-19. Revenue then dropped from canceled weddings and lost sales during the Mother’s Day and Easter holidays. The company closed stores weeks after Paper Source acquired additional locations from a competitor, Papyrus Inc., which itself was in chapter 11 at the time.

At a meeting with Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen last month, Jeff Williams, the mayor of Arlington, Texas, laid out his grim economic predicament: Heavy spending on coronavirus testing and vaccine distribution had dwarfed dwindling tax revenue, forcing the city to consider painful cuts to services and jobs. While sluggish sales and tourism were partly to blame, the big worry, Mr. Williams said, is the empty buildings, the New York Times reported. Those dormant offices, malls and restaurants that have turned cities around the country into ghost towns foreshadow a fiscal time bomb for municipal budgets, which are heavily reliant on property taxes and are facing real estate revenue losses of as much as 10 percent in 2021, according to government finance officials. While many states had stronger-than-expected revenue in 2020, a sharp decline in the value of commercial properties is expected to take a big bite out of city budgets when those empty buildings are assessed in the coming months. For states, property taxes account for just about 1 percent of tax revenue, but they can make up 30 percent or more of the taxes that cities and towns take in and use to fund local schools, police and other public services.

President Joe Biden said yesterday that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adult Americans by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved shot, the Associated Press reported. With the bolstered supply, Biden also announced he would be using the powers of the federal government to direct all states to prioritize vaccinating teachers, and said the federal government would provide the doses directly through its pharmacy program. He challenged states to administer at least one dose of the vaccine to all teachers by the end of March as part of his administration’s efforts to reopen more schools across the nation.