“ICSC viewed the recent passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the extraordinary actions taken by the Federal Reserve, while historic in scope, as only first steps,” wrote ICSC President and CEO Tom McGee in a letter to ICSC members. “Without additional urgent federal action, long-term damage to the financial markets, rampant unemployment, and irreparable harm to communities are a near certainty.”

To this end, ICSC and a broad coalition of trade groups this week submitted a letter to the Trump administration and Congressional leaders. The proposal in that letter calls for the federal government to create a special fund to distribute federal funds and liquidity to businesses hurt by pandemic-related closures, and to their employees. The proposed COVID-19 Business and Employee Continuity and Recovery Fund would be designed to help businesses retain and rehire employees, maintain worker benefits and meet operating-expense obligations.

“The establishment of the Recovery Fund is the most holistic approach that has been offered to address the economic impact of this crisis, without choosing industry winners or losers,” ICSC’s letter reads. “The continuity of cash flow provided to businesses will enable their efforts to retain and rehire employees and emerge better positioned to advance an economic recovery. We believe this framework can assist all businesses impacted by COVID-19 regardless of size, industry or location.” Read the letter here.

ICSC also wants the Trump administration to help provide a backstop for shopping center owners whose tenants stop paying rent because of the pandemic. In a letter delivered to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell this week, ICSC asked for a temporary forbearance of secured and unsecured debt obligations underlying the shopping center industry. The relief would apply to payments owed to commercial banks, life insurance companies, holders of commercial-mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and publicly traded bonds. ICSC also requested inclusion of CMBS in the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility that the Fed recently introduced.

And while the federal government is a key partner in positioning the industry for recovery, ICSC is also reaching out to local government leaders, asking for help delaying loan payments for shopping center owners hurt by the pandemic. In a letter to National Governors Association Chairman Larry Hogan and United States Conference of Mayors President Bryan Barnett, ICSC asks government officials to require all regulated banks to offer a 90-day forbearance on all commercial loan obligations underlying the shopping center industry. ICSC also asks leaders to consider commercial property tax relief for brick-and-mortar retail.

“With the majority of the estimated $6.7 trillion of consumer activity generated by the retail, food-and-beverage, entertainment and consumer-service industries occurring within America’s shopping centers, the future of the U.S. economy is very much intertwined with the fate of our industry,” McGee wrote in his letter to ICSC members. “Working with our members and collaborating with relevant groups, ICSC will continue to tirelessly advocate and represent our industry.”