ACA International and a coalition of trade associations call on U.S. Senate to pass legislation in the 116th Congress. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
9/22/2020 12:00
Industry trade groups, including ACA International and groups representing thousands of banks, credit unions, financial institutions and businesses of all sizes serving consumers, are supporting legislation from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on loan forgiveness under the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The coalition submitted a letter supporting the legislation to House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Sept. 17, 2020.
It calls for Congress to pass the legislation applying to forgiveness of PPP loans of less than $150,000 through a borrower’s completion of a one-page loan forgiveness application. PPP loans of $150,000 and under account for 87% of total PPP recipients, but less than 28% of PPP loan dollars. Expediting the loan forgiveness process for many of these hard-hit businesses would save more than $7 billion and hours of paperwork.
The bipartisan legislation, introduced in the Senate June 30, 2020, would modify the loan forgiveness under the PPP established to support small businesses in response to COVID-19.
The Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act, S. 4117, has companion legislation in the House, HR 7777, of the same name.
ACA supports both proposals for the help they would provide small businesses during the loan forgiveness process.
“We ask that Congress immediately pass these much-needed bipartisan pieces of legislation, supported by a third of the Senate and 77 members of the House of Representatives, that would streamline the forgiveness process for mom-and-pop businesses who received Paycheck Protection Program loans during these unprecedented times,” the coalition’s letter states. “The PPP established by Congress provided millions of small businesses the economic relief they needed to meet the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis. Now that the program has ended, small-business owners are facing the challenges of reopening local economies in a time of uncertainty, retooling their businesses, and working to protect the health of both customers and employees. Small businesses across the country are facing the time-consuming and costly process of applying for PPP loan forgiveness. S. 4117 and HR 7777 ensure those owners can focus their time, energy, and resources back into their business and communities instead of allocating significant time and resources into completing complex forgiveness forms.”