Democrats secured more federal aid for coronavirus testing, hospitals, and underserved small businesses who have struggled to get relief loans, a partial victory in seeking concessions from Republicans after two weeks of bargaining amid the pandemic.
In addition to winning $100 billion for hospitals and testing, Congressional Democrats negotiated an additional fenced-off $60 billion for smaller financial institutions and community-based lenders in the hopes of ensuring that vulnerable small businesses and underserved communities seeking aid were not left behind.
With the addition, the new economic aid package appropriates $321 billion in additional money for a small-business loan program that was depleted of money last week, rather than the roughly $250 billion that the Trump administration and legislators on both sides initially sought.
Community-based lenders are typically small financial institutions with a focus on their local community and are designed to provide financial assistance to small businesses that have often been turned down by traditional banks. Democrats claim that the program has been slow to help some small businesses, especially ones that are rural or run by minorities, women, or veterans.
“This long-overdue deal will finally allow the SBA to resume approving PPP loans,” said Senate Small Business Committee Chairman Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican. “It will also help preserve funds for mission lenders like Community Development Financial Institutions in order to ensure small businesses in underserved and rural communities have access to PPP loans.”
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to bring the measure, known as the Paycheck Protection Program Increase Act of 2020, to the Senate floor Tuesday and attempt to pass it by unanimous consent.
McConnell tried last week to pass a bill infusing $250 billion more into the program, but Democrats blocked the request, asking for the extra funding for testing, hospitals, and underserved businesses. Democrats also sought emergency funding for state and city governments, which was not included in the measure headed for a vote Tuesday.
“For more than a week, small businesses and their employees were held hostage after my Democratic colleagues blocked additional funding for the PPP,” Rubio said.
The Small Business Administration’s coronavirus relief program, called the Paycheck Protection Program, was established to help small businesses, through $350 billion in loans, as part of the massive $2.3 trillion CARES Act relief package that President Trump signed last month.
The SBA will forgive the loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities.
