Sen. John Kennedy proposed repurposing leftover small business pandemic relief funds to businesses damaged by riots and looting. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he’ll look into the possibility.
“I’m going to introduce a bill that I would like you and your very able, and I mean that sincerely, colleagues at Treasury to look at, to take some of that money and make it available to the businesses, mostly small businesses, but to the businesses that have been lost as a result of the burning and the looting and the felony rioting. I think they’re going to need help,” Kennedy said at a Senate hearing on coronavirus relief efforts.
The hearing was regarding the Small Business Administration’s coronavirus relief program, called the Paycheck Protection Program, which 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 in March.
Mnuchin said there will likely be small business relief funds left over from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. Approximately $130 billion is currently left in the program.
Kennedy also said he wanted the Treasury to “quantify the damage done from the rioting,” in order to find out the total cost of the rioting on businesses.
The Louisiana Republican said he would also put a provision in his bill which would allow law enforcement authorities to go after those who did looting in order to “take their assets and offset the money the taxpayers would have to spend.”
