April 17, 2020
Dear Member:
On April 16th, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced that the Paycheck Protection Program has hit the program’s $349 billion loan cap and will not be accepting any more loan applications or enrolling new lenders.
Accordingly, SBA is now waiting for Congress to provide additional funding for the program. Republicans and Democrats agree on the importance of appropriating more money for the program; however, they have yet to reach an agreement. Republicans want to pass a stand-alone bill that would provide the Paycheck Protection Program with an additional $251 billion (for a total of $600 billion in PPP funding) while Democrats also want to add $100 billion for hospitals, $150 billion for states, and an increase in funding for food assistance programs. As political pressure is mounting to get the PPP account funded again quickly we expect this to be resolved within seven to 10 days.
Both parties are in negotiation and it is only a matter of time before an agreement is reached. Therefore, it is vital that ACMA members seeking a PPP loan use this time to ensure they have all the required documents ready to submit once the PPP is reauthorized. The additional funding for PPP will continue to draw significant interest from businesses and therefore important that ACMA members are ready to submit once the program is reauthorized.
We urge you to press your Members of Congress to reach this crucial agreement while making sure you are ready to submit once the program is reauthorized.
This member exclusive update has been provided in consultation with our Washington, DC-based government affairs and global business advisory firm, The Vogel Group – www.vogelgroupdc.com