California’s governor Thursday called for letting small businesses keep up to $50,000 in sales tax receipts for the next year as the COVID-19 outbreak has forced people to stay home and many shops to close. Governor Gavin Newsom said the reprieve would function as a loan to small businesses, with the state not charging fines or penalties. It likely would require approval from the state legislature, which has recessed until at least April 13. Newsom’s proposal comes as more than 1.9 million Californians have filed for unemployment benefits since March 12, an average of more than 111,000 claims per day over the last week.
