Paycheck Protection Program & COVID Relief Funding Legislation
Today Congressional leaders and the Administration reached an agreement on CARES 2.0/CV 3.5 to provide additional emergency funding relative to the COVID-19 pandemic. At 4:00 PM EST, the Senate convened a pro forma session and is expected to pass the measure by unanimous consent later today. NCBA believes the House could meet as early as 10 AM EST this Thursday to vote on the $484 billion bipartisan agreement, but that timing is subject to change. Assuming the bill clears the house, we anticipate President Trump will swiftly sign CARES 2.0 into law.
Attached is the text of the agreement, as well as a section-by-section on additional Paycheck Protection (PPP) funding. Below are some key highlights.
The measure provides an additional $321 billion in funding for PPP.
Of this amount, $60 billion is set aside for small lenders and community-based financial institutions who serve the needs of unbanked/underserved small businesses, specifically:
$30 billion for loans made by Insured Depository Institutions and Credit Unions that have assets between $10 billion and $50 billion; and
$30 billion for loans made by Community Financial Institutions, Small Insured Depository Institutions, and Credit Unions with assets less than $10 billion.
An additional $50 billion is provided for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program – allowing for approximately $300 billion in new loans for small businesses – and $10 billion in funding for SBA’s Emergency Economic Injury Grant program
Authorizing language was included to allow agricultural enterprises as defined by section 18(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 647(b)) with not more than 500 employees to receive EIDL grants and loans.
Additional information on the EIDL loan/grant programs can be found here.
The CARES Act provided $349 billion in total funding for PPP. The program went live on 4/3 and funding was fully depleted less than two weeks later on 4/15. According to SBA, 4,975 lenders approved 1,661,367 loans during this time period. Of this, 46,334 loans totaling $4.3 billion were approved for agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting small businesses --- this accounts for a meager 1.28% of total PPP loans/funding.
NCBA has been working since day one to eliminate PPP barriers to entry for agricultural producers and will continue these efforts until all outstanding issues are resolved. We are still pushing for Schedule F guidance and will be sure to send additional updates on future guidance/clarification from SBA. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or for more information.
Best,
Danielle Beck Executive Director, Government Affairs
Center for Public Policy The Pennsylvania Building
1275 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Suite 801 Washington, DC 20004-1701
202.879.9127 | dbeck@beef.org