It’s rare to find something as universally supported as the Paycheck Protection Program, created by the CARES Act earlier this year. As Senate Small Business Committee Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) said at a hearing yesterday, the PPP has been the single most effective part of the CARES Act, and one of the most effective federal fiscal programs in US history.

If Santa’s flying commercial this year, he’ll have to leave the reindeer at home, or else check them as cargo. This week the Department of Transportation announced a final rule that that, for the purposes of all things aircraft-related defines service animals as “a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability.”

Although party control of the Senate remains undetermined, Democrats and Republicans on both sides of Capitol Hill elected their respective leaders this week. We’ll see few changes.

It’s been a rough week, as Hurricane Eta hit Florida and hundreds of thousands of Americans — that’s not a typo, it’s hundreds of thousands — tested positive for COVID-19. We hope that you and yours are safe and sound.

We’re still sifting through the election results, waiting for vote counts to finish in several states — Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, specifically, though states will not certify the results of their elections until next week at the earliest, and in some cases not until December.

Some of us were still awake last night when the President announced that he and the First Lady had tested positive for COVID-19. This morning, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) announced that he had tested positive as well.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in state at the U.S. Capitol this afternoon. “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made,” she said, making it all the more appropriate that she is the first woman ever to lie in state at the Capitol. Before she became the second woman Supreme Court justice, she argued the landmark cases that established that the 14th Amendment’s “equal protection” includes protection from discrimination on the basis of gender.

Appearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mark Calabria said that if necessary, he will extend the moratoria on foreclosures and evictions for homes and multifamily housing financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac past December 31.

The governors of Kansas, Guam, New Mexico, and Minnesota appeared before the House Financial Services Committee yesterday to ask for additional federal funding to support their pandemic responses. Despite federal assistance from the CARES Act and other measures, states are facing deficits from a combination of emergency-related expenses and reduced revenues.

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%.