Bipartisan bill approved before 116th Congress adjourned extends relief for small businesses advocated for by ACA International. It does not extend student loan forbearance past Jan. 31. It was passed by the House and Senate Monday and sent to the president’s desk for approval. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
12/21/2020 22:00
As Congress winds down its activity for 2020, the latest bipartisan bill for COVID-19 relief includes critical protections for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 359-53 to approve the bill Monday night followed by a 92-6 vote in the U.S. Senate. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill.
The latest version combined COVID-19 relief provisions with a $1.4 trillion government spending bill. The $900 billion bipartisan agreement allocates $325 billion for small-business relief, including $284 billion in funding for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
The bill would create a simplified PPP loan forgiveness application for loans under $150,000 dollars whereby the borrower signs and submits a one-page certification that requires the borrower to list the loan amount, the number of employees retained, and the estimated total amount of the loan spent on payroll costs—a change ACA International advocated for through a grassroots campaign.
Additional Relief
Some of the other provisions in the bill include:
- An additional round of Economic Impact Payments of $600 for individuals making up to $75,000 per year and $1,200 for couples making up to $150,000 per year, as well as a $600 payment for each child dependent.
- An additional $300 per week for all workers receiving unemployment benefits through March 14, 2021. This bill also extends the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, with expanded coverage to the self-employed, gig workers, and others in nontraditional employment, and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides additional weeks of federally-funded unemployment benefits to individuals who exhaust their regular state benefits.
- Proposed inclusion of legislation to stop “surprise medical bills.
- Rental assistance and extension of moratorium on evictions through Jan. 31. Click here for a summary of Emergency Rental Assistance.
- $284.5 billion in funding to reopen and strengthen the PPP for first time and second time borrowers.
- A process for a small business to receive a second PPP if the small business has less than 300 employees and can demonstrate a revenue reduction of 25%.
- A simplified PPP loan forgiveness application for loans under $150,000 whereby the borrower signs and submits a one-page certification that requires the borrower to list the loan amount, the number of employees retained, and the estimated total amount of the loan spent on payroll costs.
The final relief bill is between the $3.4 trillion House Democrats proposed in May and the $500 billion proposed by Senate Republicans in the fall.
The Bipartisan Emergency COVID Relief Act discussed before it was combined with the government spending bill also included a proposal to issue an additional $300 in weekly unemployment payments and extend student loan forbearance through the end of April 2021. However, the extension on student loan forbearance is not in the bill approved by the House Monday.
The U.S. Department of Education extended forbearance on federal student loans, interest accrual and collections activity through Jan. 31, 2021, ACA previously reported.
New PPP Loan Data
While Congress considers additional relief for consumers and businesses before the end of its term, recent data on the PPP reported by The Washington Post shows more loans went to larger companies than small businesses.
The data was made public after the paper and 10 other news organizations filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act for the SBA to release records on borrowers under the PPP and their loan amounts, The Washington Post reports.
Among the findings, about “600 mostly larger companies,” including chains, received the maximum loan allowed under the PPP, which is $10 million.
“Officials from the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have argued the program primarily benefited smaller businesses because a vast majority of the loans?more than 87 percent?were for less than $150,000, as of August. But the new data shows more than half of the $522 billion in the same time frame went to bigger businesses, and only 28 percent of the money was distributed in amounts less than $150,000,” according to the article.
The SBA released loan data for 660,000 businesses and nonprofit organizations that received at least $150,000 through the PPP loans because of the lawsuit.
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