The lead authors of the popular small business loan initiative known as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) want the next round of loans to focus on small businesses that have suffered heavy losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.
President of the Senate Small Business Committee Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio With the meeting set for the messy COVID-19 talks on the tight McConnell deadline, Rubio defends senior intelligence official over comments on election interference Republican senators push for stimulus controls for nearly 2 million Americans excluded MORE (R-Fla.) And the senator Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins100 days: Democrats see a clear path to the Senate Majority VOA decision that could hinder Venezuela’s coverage. (R-Maine) released its plan Monday afternoon as part of a broader rollout of Republican proposals for the next phase of the coronavirus relief legislation.
The plan would allow the most affected small business owners to receive a forgivable second PPP loan.
Rubio and Collins say another round of PPP loans should be limited to companies with no more than 300 employees, falling below the 500-worker limit originally set out in the third coronavirus stimulus law passed in March.
The reform plan will also include an income test, limiting loans to companies that have lost at least 50 percent of income compared to the previous year’s quarter.
It would also expand the list of expenses for which PPP loans would be forgiven to include investments to protect employees and customers, such as masks, Plexiglass shields, and improved H-VAC weather systems.
“We are now beginning to see that as APP funds are depleted, some companies have to face once again the potential to fire some of their workers. And that is why it is time for a second round of PPP assistance, ”Rubio said in the Senate room on Monday, presenting the plan.
A portion of PPP loans will be reserved for companies with 10 or fewer employees.
“Some of these funds will be reserved for employers who have ten or fewer employees to make sure the money doesn’t run out without that group of small businesses getting the assistance they need,” Rubio said.
Collins, who will run for reelection in November, said the program has been critical to the economy of his home state.
“More than 76 percent of small businesses in Maine reported receiving a PPP loan. An estimated 76 percent of Maine’s jobs have been supported by this critically important program, ”Collins said on the Senate floor Monday afternoon.
Collins also unveiled some of the details of the show during a radio appearance on Friday.
“I would give another round of forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans to our small employers who keep employees paid, retain them, get them back, or send them paychecks,” Collins said when he unveiled his plan on Friday in Maine radio.
Collins noted that the eight weeks of the Paycheck Protection Program established by the CARES Act has expired.
She says the new Republican Party proposal “would allow a second PPP loan for the most affected companies.”
“They would have to have fewer than 300 employees, they would not be able to go public and they would have to demonstrate that they have had a 50 percent decrease in income compared to the similar quarter last year,” he said.
“I can tell you, after speaking with countless restaurant owners and B and B and hotel and inn operators, that many of them will easily reach that threshold,” he said.
Collins said small business owners say the first round of PPP loans helped save their businesses, but they are still under threat.
“There are businesses out there that need a second loan to survive,” he said.
Rubio and Collins also propose special long-term, low-interest loans for businesses in low-income neighborhoods.
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