A firm co-owned by Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi was among many companies linked to lawmakers who got loans from the Payment Protection Program, according to data released Monday.
Companies owned or associated with representatives Mike Kelly (R-Pa), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), And Rick Allen (R-Ga.) Also received the coronavirus loans. Companies linked to representatives Roger Williams (R-Texas), Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), And Debbie Mucarsel Powell (D-Fla.) Previously reported that they obtained loans.
Pelosi’s spokeswoman Drew Hammill said her husband Paul Pelosi is “an investor.” Therefore, I did not know that the loan had been applied for. “
According to Pelosi’s required disclosure forms, Paul Pelosi has a $ 1.5 million to $ 1.5 million stake in EDI Associates, which he invests in the El Dorado Hotel in Sonoma, California. EDI Associates obtained a loan between $ 350,000 and $ 1 million.
PPP loans can be converted into grants if companies with up to 500 employees, and in more cases, spend 60 percent on payroll. In two deals negotiated in part by Pelosi, Congress overwhelmingly approved $ 670 billion for the program.
Spokespersons for Kelly, whose car dealers raised between $ 450,000 and $ 1.05 million, and Allen, whose construction company raised between $ 350,000 and $ 1 million, also said they were not involved in the loan hunt.
Mullin, whose plumbing companies raised between $ 800,000 and $ 2.05 million, and Hern, whose McDonald’s franchises earned between $ 1 million and $ 2 million, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Andrea Porwoll, a spokesman for Allen, said he “gave up the majority stake in the company and that he and his wife no longer have decision-making authority,” but that “our office has consulted with the House General Counsel Office. of US Representatives and is confident that the company, like companies across the country affected by COVID-19, is eligible to receive a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program after doing its due diligence and apply in good faith. “
Andrew Eisenberger, a spokesman for Kelly, said the congressman “is not involved in the day-to-day operations of his car dealerships and was not part of the discussions between the business and the PPP lender.”
“Kelly’s small family business employs more than 200 western Pennsylvania residents whose jobs were at risk due to Governor Wolf’s business closing order,” said Eisenberger.
“The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to maintain the incomes of workers who would otherwise have been without pay or faulty employment during the coronavirus pandemic, and organizations in which members of Congress have a stake on the property they were not prohibited from receiving PPP loans to help their employees during this difficult time. “
Small Business Administration data released Monday lists about 660,000 loan recipients, and the data may contain firms linked to additional lawmakers.
Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) proposed legislation this year to force the disclosure of linked loans to legislators and their families.
The original four companies tied to lawmakers for loans included the casino business of Lee, the husband of Full House Resorts, which raised $ 5.6 million, according to a document from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The first-year congresswoman lobbied the SBA and the Treasury Department to allow casinos to be eligible.
A Williams-owned auto dealer, who is one of the wealthiest members of Congress, said he received a loan, and Hartzler revealed that his family-owned farm and equipment companies raised about $ 480,000 in loans.
Mucarsel Powell’s husband works as a lawyer for the Fiesta Restaurant Group, which received $ 15 million in loans but returned the money when other restaurant chains came under scrutiny. His office told the media that he was not involved in the loans.
.
