Sen. Chris Coons: Use remaining PPP funding to help businesses struggling most
Senator Chris Coons sat down with Yahoo Finance's Jessica Smith to weigh in on allowing businesses to receive a second paycheck program loan.
Video Transcript
- Want to bring into the program Jessica Smith. She had a chance to speak with a senator about-- Senator Coons about the Paycheck Protection Program and much more. Jessica?
JESSICA SMITH: Yeah, Adam. I talked to Senator Chris Coons about his bill that would allow some businesses to get a second Paycheck Protection Program loan. Right now, there is more than $100 billion still left in the Paycheck Protection Program, so he says you might as well use that funding to help small businesses who are still struggling. He says, in order to apply for this second loan, you would have to have fewer than 100 employees, you have to have exhausted your first PPP loan, and you have to have a 50% revenue loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, the National Federation of Independent Businesses told me that that 50% revenue loss rule could be problematic because some small businesses with a 30% revenue loss still could be at risk. Coons told me today that he is open to negotiating certain points, including that revenue loss rule, but he says his core priority is helping the smallest businesses. That's why he wants to set aside 20% of the remaining funding for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Here's Coons talking about that.
CHRIS COONS: They struggled the most to initially connect with lending banks and with the SBA in the first round. And frankly, they're also the ones who are closest to going under, as our economy is not reopening as quickly as many of us thought months ago when we passed the CARES Act. There's lots of states that are experiencing an ongoing pandemic challenge and where the economy isn't close to coming back.
JESSICA SMITH: The SBA is set to stop approving PPP loans on June 30th. Senator Coons' bill would extend that deadline, but we're really running out of time to get that done. He says he is hopeful that the Senate will pass this bill some point in the near future, before June 30th, by unanimous consent. He is working on getting a Republican co-sponsor. He says he hopes he'll get that done this week. So we'll have to keep you updated on this one. Adam?
