Time To Rally Congress To Provide More Funding For Small Business Loans

As Connecting the Dots has reported, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has rolled out two major programs to provide loans to businesses with fewer than 500 employees in response to COVID-19. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program has so far provided more than 20,000 loans amounting to $4.1 billion while, under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), more than 1.6 million loans have been approved providing more than $341 billion across over 5,000 participating lenders. (Click here for specific information about where this money went.)

Both of these programs, unfortunately, have run out of money and will require new appropriations from federal lawmakers in order to continue providing aid. (The SBA has stopped accepting and processing EIDL applications until it has more funding for the programs. Banks are still accepting and processing applications for the PPP. They also are able to send applications to the SBA, but these loans will not be accepted and reviewed by SBA until there is more funding. Effectively, these loans are “on hold”—SBS cannot approve them, but applicants should not have to refile their applications if or when new money is appropriated.)

Despite ongoing negotiations, as of Monday morning, April 20, Congress was still deadlocked over how to allocate more money for both programs, and the PPP in particular. The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) recommends that Individuals can use this link to send a message to their member of Congress asking them to support loan programs for small businesses. Even if the U.S. Senate passes legislation on April 20, that funding will need to be approved by lawmakers in the U.S. House.

MSCI already has made its voice heard. In anticipation of the PPP running out of money, MSCI joined with more than 200 trade groups on a letter urging Congress to quickly authorize more money for PPP. Click here to read the letter.