WASHINGTON – Data released Monday by the Trump administration showed that businesses in big states like California and Texas received the most loans from the government’s small business aid program, with healthcare, professional services and construction among sectors. who have taken advantage of the largest amount of funds.
Of the $ 521 billion allocated through the Paycheck Protection Program, about $ 68.2 billion, about 13 percent, went to companies in California. Another $ 41.1 billion flowed to Texas businesses, according to data released Monday by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration, which administer the program.
According to the data, nearly 5,000 companies received individual loans between $ 5 million and $ 10 million. While management included ranges for loan amounts, it did not include specific figures.
The information released Monday included names and employment data for companies that received more than $ 150,000 in loans. It also provided zip codes, industries, and the number of “retained employees” in the companies, along with the lender who issued the loan and the date it was approved.
The figures do not include details on the approximately $ 30 billion in loans that were repaid when companies realized they were ineligible for the program, fear they may not be able to meet the program’s requirements, or return the money after the public outcry. by large companies that raise funds.
The administration said the money allocated through the program so far had helped keep more than 50 million jobs. According to the Treasury statement, the proportion of overall state-supported small business payroll ranged from 72 percent in Virginia to 96 percent in Florida.
The data showed that 601 companies said they would retain 500 employees, exactly the limit of the program.
The Paycheck Protection Program offers companies with 500 employees or fewer loans that can be forgiven if the employer meets certain conditions, such as using most of the funds to pay employees. An initial round of financing for the program quickly ran out, but a second round saw slower demand, leaving the program with around $ 131.9 billion in its coffers. President Trump signed legislation Saturday that extends the application deadline, originally from June 30 to August 8.
There was no apparent link between the amount of economic damage individual states have suffered in the midst of the pandemic and the success of small businesses in a particular state in accessing program loans, the data shows.
Four Great Plains states, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, obtained loan approval from at least 90 percent of their payroll from eligible small businesses, despite being among the least affected states in terms of unemployment claims during the crisis. Two of the states most affected by claims, New York and California, saw loan approvals equal to about three-quarters of their eligible payrolls; Under that measure, California companies would have received billions more from the program if they had seen approvals at the same rate as the Plains states.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Jovita Carranza, head of the Small Business Administration, had previously said they would release the names of borrowers who had received at least $ 150,000 through the program before the holiday weekend of April 4. July. A senior administration official said cleaning the data for public consumption took longer than expected, although it was released to Congress on Friday.
The detailed revelations that will come later on Monday are the culmination of a month-long fight for transparency. After initially refusing to disclose detailed information on borrowers, the Trump administration reversed course in mid-June, saying it would provide more data amid pressure from lawmakers and watchdog groups.
The push for detailed disclosure came after large companies tapped into program funds, which were initially scarce. In the first weeks after the program opened in April, public companies revealed in financial documents that they had been among the beneficiaries. The revelation that big brand organizations like Shake Shack and Los Angeles Lakers were receiving ransom money prompted Mr. Mnuchin to pressure companies that did not need loans to pay them back.
Since then, the Trump administration, which has long argued that the borrower’s information was “private” and confidential, has come under increasing pressure on what it should reveal about who, exactly, is receiving the money.
Small business groups lobbied the Treasury Department to keep loan information secret, and department officials expressed concern that posting detailed payroll information about private companies could leave them vulnerable to corporate acquisitions or competitors trying to steal from your employees.
But Democrats and left-wing government watchdog groups said the White House refused to be transparent and participate in corporate cronyism. After Republicans in Congress also began to complain that the Treasury was frustrating its oversight responsibilities by withholding the data, Mnuchin relented.
The Paycheck Protection Program began making loans on April 3, just a week after Trump signed the $ 2 trillion stimulus bill. The rapid change meant that many of the program’s guidelines were still being written as the government prepared to accept applications.
After a brief pause, he began accepting loan applications again on Monday.
