Washington — The ADA and more than 100 stakeholders are asking Congress to pass a new bill that would ease the process to obtain loan forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Program loans of less than $150,000.
The Paycheck Protection Program was established by Congress in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to provide small businesses with economic relief in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the coalition, Paycheck Protection Program loans under $150,000 account for 86% of the total recipients, but less than 27% of Paycheck Protection Program loan dollars overall.
In a July 9 letter to leaders of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and House Small Business Committee, the groups urged the lawmakers to support S 4117, The Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act. If enacted, the bill would forgive PPP loans less than $150,000 upon the borrower’s completion of a “simple, one-page forgiveness document.”
“This bipartisan legislation would ensure our nation’s small business 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,” they wrote.
The groups shared data provided from AQN Strategies, a financial consulting firm, that found expediting the forgiveness process could save more than $7 billion as well as hours of paperwork. The firm based that number after predicting the combined resource requirements of operators’ time and/or third-party expenses equaled $2,000-$4,000 for each business applying for forgiveness, requiring 20-100 hours of focused time from the businesses.
“With an average loan size of less than $19,000 for the smallest 60% of loans, this estimate would represent 10-20% of the loan amount itself, which is otherwise intended to support payroll, rent and other obligations necessary to keep businesses alive and ready to restart,” the coalition said.
The Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act is sponsored by Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.
“Small businesses and their employees are the backbone of our nation’s economy and communities. Their time and resources would be better focused on getting the economy safely back up and running, not processing burdensome paperwork. We strongly support S 4117 and look forward to working with you, the Committee, and the 116th Congress to pass this bill and have it signed into law. Thank you for your strong, common sense leadership on such a critical issue,” the letter concluded.
For more information about the ADA’s advocacy efforts during COVID-19, visit ADA.org/COVID19Advocacy.