California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday three new measures for Californians financially impacted by the COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, pandemic.
Among the several resources unveiled was a federal fund of “first-come, first-serve” loans of up to $10 million for small employers impacted by COVID-19. This fund opens applications Friday, according to a press release.
Newsom also announced a $50 million state fund for loan guarantees to small businesses that may not qualify for federal funds, including those in low-income and undocumented immigrant communities. This comes after Newsom issued a 90-day extension for small businesses to pay sales taxes.
For the newly unemployed, Newsom partnered with Bitwise Industries and the Kapor Center to create OnwardCA, which connects people in need of jobs to more than 70,000 jobs in the most critical industries today.
Newsom has also allocated $17.8 million to supporting California workers, with $7.8 million for the Los Angeles region and the other $10 million for the rest of the state.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is having cascading effects for millions of California families and small businesses,” Newsom said in the press release. “Through no fault of their own, more than one 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.”