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The Federal Council wants to provide additional financial support to companies that are particularly suffering from the Corona crisis. Half of the federal government participates in cantonal measures. However, some questions remain open, such as how much money is needed. Cantons can comment on aid in emergency situations presented by the Federal Council a week ago as part of a consultation process.
All cantons must comply with federal regulations on difficult living conditions. However, they do not equally support businesses in need due to the corona pandemic.
The overview of the German-speaking cantons
AG: The government is planning new measures to support businesses. He wants to quickly draw up the necessary cantonal legal bases, in coordination with the measures now planned by the federal government. The cantonal parliament must then decide on the loans.
Last April, the governing council decided on an aid package for the Aargau economy, in addition to the measures taken by the federal government. The Grand Council approved 150 million francs for the first stage. However, some of the support measures have already expired.
AI: The government, that is, the professional ethics committee, has decided that hardship cases can be supported with funds from the Economic Development Fund. Crisis-plagued companies in all sectors can submit requests for support to the Office of Economic Affairs, which are verified individually.
WITH: Together with the Appenzell Ausserrhoden Business Development Foundation and other foundations, the Ausserrhoder government has created a “Corona Emergency Relief Fund”. This also provides for contributions for cases of hardship. Aid of up to CHF 10,000 is granted to sole proprietorships and small businesses. This money does not have to be repaid.
BE: The cantonal government of Bern does not want to support federal regulation because of difficulties in this way. The Federal Council will provide at least 1 billion francs for Covid hardship cases in the Swiss economy instead of 200 million. However, companies will take too long to benefit from this aid, according to the governing council. He asks the Federal Council to reactivate Covid 19 loans. He himself currently does not want to give money for difficult cases.
DEGREE IN LAW: In the canton of Basel, a referendum on the so-called third-party solution will be held at the end of November. This stipulates that the owner of a commercial property forfeits one-third of the rent. In this case, the canton takes over the second third, the rest remains in the hands of the tenant. The regulation applies at the time of the special situation from April to mid-June.
In addition, Baselland has granted its companies emergency loans worth millions and is now working on the legal basis for difficult cases. It is not yet clear how much Baselland wants to facilitate.
BS: The canton of Basel-Stadt participates in the federal government’s poverty regulation with 15 million francs for the hotel, catering and tourism industry. The regulation goes into effect on November 1.
During the first corona wave, the Basel government also made 18 million francs available to help finance rental reductions for commercial properties, provided the owner forfeits a third of the rent. In addition, the canton of the city guarantees loans in favor of the economy up to a total of 50 million francs.
FR: The cantonal government of Freiburg would like to relax and increase the criteria for the federal government difficulties ordinance. Compared to other cantons, Freiburg has already provided some funds for businesses and hardship cases. In October, the canton parliament approved a relaunch plan for Freiburg’s economy worth more than 63 million francs, part of it for restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
A further 15 million Swiss francs were made available to help in cases of difficulty, such as hotels, media, sports centers or exhibitions. The institutions that had to close in early November will also be supported with CHF 8 million A-Fonds-perdu amounts.
GL: To prevent companies from surviving the Crown crisis, the canton established an aid program in late March. On the one hand, a cantonal fund was created to provide temporary support to autonomous and owner-managed companies, which was accumulated with 2.5 million Swiss francs from fiscal reserves. On the other hand, the canton grants low-interest loan guarantees to companies up to a maximum of ten million francs.
GRAM: Graubünden created a cantonal fund for emergencies at the beginning of the summer and gave 10 million francs to help smaller companies that have been severely affected by the crisis. By the end of October, around 130 applications had been received, two-thirds of which have already been processed and 770,000 francs have been paid. The federal government’s proposal for hardship cases is currently being examined by the government, according to the responsible department.
LU: The cantonal government has issued a letter of intent: Lucerne should contribute about ten million francs.
NORTHWEST: The government is examining what legal documents are necessary for a hardship regulation.
OH: The government is examining what legal documents are necessary for a hardship regulation.
SH: The Canton of Schaffhausen welcomes the federal regulations on hardship. As the Schaffhausen government adviser Ernst Landolt says, they would contribute 50 percent of the costs.
The canton itself provided 50 million francs as emergency aid to businesses in the spring. However, so far only 10 million francs have been paid. At the moment, Landolt continues, the number of applications is increasing again. “We are in the process of examining it.”
SG: The government of St. Gallen clarifies the framework for regulation due to difficulties, it says in a message. He agreed with the general idea of the proposal and had initially determined the industries for which he wanted to examine the support funds. This includes gastronomy, the hotel industry, tour operators, market drivers, and the event industry.
SO: The Solothurn governing council is examining measures to support the economy. Solothurn’s parliament, the cantonal council, unanimously declared an urgent mandate to be significant on Wednesday (November 4), and thus transferred it to the government. The reasoning was that without counteracting this, companies that had made a profit in normal times and offered many jobs would have to go bankrupt.
The list of affected industries, such as automobile companies, companies in the event sector or the catering industry, is long. On behalf of the governing council, Mrs Landammann Brigit Wyss said that the Federal Council will start the consultation process on emergency measures for companies on Wednesday. The federal government and the cantons will work closely together.
SZ: The canton has issued a letter of intent: Schwyz should contribute between two and four million francs.
TG: It looks similar in Thurgau. The government has revised the regulations and will be communicated these days.
UR: The canton has already created a fund for difficult situations, worth one million francs.
VS: The parliament of the canton of Valais on Wednesday spoke 120 million francs to help the economy, especially in cases of difficulties. Restaurants and caterers, but also the industry, events and travel sectors should benefit from this.
On Friday, Parliament will also decide whether Valais will create a new crisis fund of 130 million to be able to cushion the consequences of the second crown wave.
ZG: The government asks Parliament for 44 million francs: 40 million as a loan and four million as contributions from the A-fonds-perdu.
ZH: Zurich’s governing council continues to support businesses in need due to the corona pandemic. For example, the Zurich Finance Directorate announced last Thursday that the canton would participate in federal regulation due to economic difficulties. The corresponding proposal must reach the cantonal parliament soon.
Until this takes effect, the Canton of Zurich will continue with its own measures. It continues to guarantee 85 percent of the loans that affected companies can take out of their bank until March 31, 2021. It is also expanding cantonal emergency aid for the self-employed. To this end, it made 15 million Swiss francs available to the communities from the ZKB anniversary dividend. Of this amount, 2.5 million francs are still available. The municipalities can withdraw this money until the end of the year and distribute it to those affected.
