Washington, D.C.— Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-MD), Senate Small Business Committee Senior Member Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Senate Committee on Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) today sent a letter to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin urging the administration officials to provide American taxpayers with data on how small business relief funds are being distributed.
The letter comes on the heels of Senate Republicans’ refusal to negotiate with Senate Democrats, who have proposed hundreds of billions in additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Emergency Grants Program; the programs have both run out of funding.
“Funding for both of these bipartisan programs must be replenished. Millions of small businesses and non-profits are desperate for the assistance offered by the PPP and EIDLs,” the senators wrote. “As Congress works to provide critical funding for these programs, we write to ask that you provide additional data and information about how loans and grants have been distributed.”
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act appropriated $377 billion to support small businesses through PPP, the EIDL and Emergency Grants Program, and the Debt Relief Program, which will pay all interest and principal payments on new and existing SBA-backed 7(a), 504, and microloans for six months.
The senators requested the following information to learn how PPP funds are being disbursed:
The senators requested the following information to learn how EIDL and EIDL Grant funds are being disbursed:
The senators also requested data outlining the total loan dollars and number of borrowers in the Debt Relief Program, as well as confirmation that lenders have suspended borrowers’ payments.
Click here to download a PDF of the letter.
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