President Joe Biden has signed the COVID 19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act legislation. University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension Public Policy Specialist Dr. Brad Lubben says all the federal COVID relief whether it be this bankruptcy bill or earlier financial assistance is important in helping farmers and ranchers recover from the pandemic.

He says a critical component of the COVID 19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act is for Chapters 7 and 13 bankruptcies to exclude coronavirus related pandemic payments from the federal government from being treated as income for purposes of filing bankruptcy.

Lubben says the pandemic has negatively effected all sectors of agriculture so this bankruptcy relief and the stimulus payments have all been critical for farmers and ranchers.

The COVID 19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act provides another year of enhanced bankruptcy provisions for struggling small businesses and consumers.