Come on, not all the news is bad. Veterinarians at the National Zoo announced today that Mei Xiang, one of the Zoo’s two giant pandas, is showing signs of an unexpected pregnancy, confirmed by ultrasound images.

Industrial banks have a significant economic presence in Utah, the nationwide center for this banking segment with a 110-year history. The state’s current and former industrial banks pay above average wages and make community investments. In 2019, current industrial banks’ economic impacts included 6,468 instate jobs in all major sectors, $722.0 million in state GDP, and $32.0 million in state and local tax revenue in Utah.

Industrial banks generate substantial economic benefits in Utah, the nationwide center for this banking segment with a 110-year history.

“Square and Nelnet are great additions to the U.S. banking sector. We congratulate them for succeeding through the rigorous federal and state application process,” said Frank Pignanelli, Executive Director of the National Association of Industrial Bankers.

Negotiations continue among the House, Senate, and Administration on a new pandemic relief package. We expect these talks to continue over the weekend and into next week, with elements changing day to day and even hour to hour. Stay tuned.

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute today released a groundbreaking analysis detailing the substantial economic benefits of industrial banks in Utah, the nationwide center for this banking segment with a 110-year history.

We hope this will remain metaphorical for all of us this weekend, as Hurricane Isaias moves in on the south and east coasts of Florida. Stay safe, stay dry, and stay healthy, everybody. We’ve almost made it through July. Only five months left in 2020.

We join the nation in mourning the loss of Rep. John Lewis, who died last Friday at the age of 80. Rep. Lewis was known as the “conscience of Congress,” and was the last survivor of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders who organized the 1963 March on Washington.

Responding to public comments and suggestions, the Federal Reserve Board announced today that is taking steps to make its Main Street Lending facility more accessible to nonprofit organizations such as educational institutions, hospitals, and social service organizations.

Yesterday the House approved S. 4209, the Protecting Nonprofits from Catastrophic Cash Flow Strain Act of 2020, sending the bill to the President for signature. The legislation, originally sponsored by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), will make it easier for nonprofits to qualify for aid by resetting the Labor Department’s requirement of 100% payment of unemployment contributions for furloughed staff members to 50%.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) expired on June 30, but the Senate and House voted this week to extend the program through August 8. The bill also separates out the $30 billion previously authorized for the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) lending program, so that the 7(a) program can continue after the PPP expires.

The Federal Reserve Board, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a joint final rule today modifying the general prohibition on banks investing in or sponsoring hedge funds or private equity funds, otherwise known as the Volcker rule.

On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and informed the enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended, and that they were free. This momentous occasion has been celebrated as Juneteenth (“June” + “19th”) for more than 150 years. Texas made it a state holiday in 1980, and now it’s a holiday in 47 states and the District of Columbia as well — most recently in Virginia and New York, which created new paid state holidays this week. Bipartisan support to make it a federal holiday is growing, as Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) both announced legislation to do that this week.

Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Small Business Committee asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin whether he would support allowing businesses that are not yet ready to reopen to apply for additional funds through the Paycheck Protection Program, and Mnuchin seemed amenable to the idea at a hearing on Wednesday.

This morning President Trump signed into law HR 7010, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, which the Senate approved by voice vote on June 3. The new law gives businesses more time and flexibility to spend funds they receive through the PPP and still be eligible for loan forgiveness.

The Senate voted by unanimous consent on Wednesday to approve S. 945, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which would require companies listed on U.S. equity exchanges to establish that they are not owned or controlled by a foreign government.

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has extended the District of Columbia’s stay-at-home order through June 8, as the decline in new COVID-19 infections has not yet lasted the two weeks recommended by federal guidelines.

The Senate Banking Committee held an extraordinary “hybrid” hearing on Tuesday to review the nominations of Brian Miller to serve as the Special Inspector General of the Treasury for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) and Dana Wade to serve as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Housing.

Lending under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) resumed on Monday. On Wednesday, the Small Business Administration posted answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Wednesday, clarifying definitions, exemptions and exclusions, and the permissible uses for PPP funds.

Buried in the coverage of yesterday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing was a nugget of real news: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared preliminary findings of a study that seems to show the new coronavirus is particularly susceptible to direct sunlight, heat, and high humidity.