FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence on the Payroll Protection Program and his interview with SBA Manager Jovita Carranza.
A relief program that throws a critical lifeline to small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic is responsible for a ‘majority’ of jobs created since May, according to Small Business Administration Jovita Carranza.
The $ 670 billion paycheck protection program, created when Congress passed the CARES law at the end of March, was officially closed to new applicants on Saturday.
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“I would say that the majority of the 9.3 million jobs that have been retained are attributed to small businesses,” Carranza said during an interview with FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence.
Since the program launched in early April, more than 5.2 million loans have been worth about $ 525 billion, according to Carranza. The program has helped save an estimated 51 million jobs.
“This paycheck protection program has sustained the economy of small business,” Carranza said. “It protected the wages of employers and workers as well. The paycheck protection program was essential to maintaining and mobilizing our national economy.”
There are about $ 135 billion left in the fund.
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As Democratic leaders and White House officials struggle to negotiate the next round of emergency aid, some lawmakers are debating what to do with the remaining PPP money amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and a fresh round of business closures that ‘ t threaten to slow – – or vice versa – the slow recovery of the economy.
Under a $ 1 trillion incentive proposal lifted last week by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the money would be repaid for more targeted assistance to the heaviest hit small businesses, which are eligible for a second PPP loan ask.
Companies that increased their revenue in the first or second quarter of this year by 50% or more (compared to last year) could dive into a PPP for a second loan.
The aid would be limited to companies with no more than 300 employees, away from the original limit of 500 workers laid down in the CARES law. Part of the money would be set aside for companies with less than 10 workers.
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The proposal, drafted by sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., And sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, would also lower some of the restrictions on the money financed by the taxpayer. Businesses could, for example, use the loan to buy personal protective equipment for workers, investments that senators said are necessary to ensure owners can run their businesses safely during the pandemic.
Rubio and Collins have urged Congress to act unanimously on the PPP expansion as talks on a broader stimulus bill permeate.
“I believe the president as well as the cabinet are seriously working to deliver another lifeline, a financial emergency line for small businesses,” Carranza said.
There is a fear that once the PPP money disappears, small businesses could see a wave of layoffs: According to a recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Companies, 14% of companies receiving PPP support consider , if they employee withdraw the money. At least 70,000 of those companies expect to leave at least 10 workers per layoff.
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