Blog

Senate Approves Additional Money for the Paycheck Protection Program

On April 21, 2020, after significant negotiations, the United States Senate announced that they had reached an agreement to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The PPP, which is the small business lending program that was included in the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, had run out of funds on April 16, 2020. Senate Republicans had sought to add additional funds to the PPP on April 9, 2020, but their efforts were blocked by Senate Democrats who were seeking additional funds for state and local governments, hospitals, and other programs.
 
The new bill, known as H.R. 266 or the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Enhancements Act, includes an additional $310 billion for the PPP as well as another $10 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The PPP expansion includes funds set aside for community financial institutions, smaller insured depository institutions, and credit unions. In addition to the funds for the PPP and EIDL, H.R. 266 includes an additional $75 billion for hospitals and healthcare providers as well as $25 billion for coronavirus testing. You may view a summary of H.R. 266 by clicking here. You may also view the entire bill by clicking here

Upon introduction of H.R. 266, the Senate immediately moved to pass the bill by voice vote. The bill is now being sent to the United States House of Representatives where it may take longer to pass due to procedural and travel issues. TRALA expects the House to pass the Senate bill without changes allowing it to be sent to President Trump for his signature by the end of this week.
 
If you have any questions regarding H.R. 266 or the small business loan programs enhanced in this bill, please do not hesitate to contact Jake Jacoby at jjacoby@trala.org or Andrew Stasiowski at astasiowski@trala.org.
 
###