U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has offered legislation that would provide billions of dollars in additional assistance to the most severely impacted small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sen. Collins cosponsored the Continuing Small Business Recovery and Paycheck Protection Program Act, S. 4321, with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to establish the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Second Draw Loan and to amend the 7(a) loan guaranty program for recovery sector business concerns, according to the text of the bill.
“The bill we are introducing today to allow the hardest-hit small businesses to apply for a second forgivable PPP loan builds on the strong foundation” she and other members of the Small Business Task Force created, Sen. Collins said on Monday, noting that the bill aims to ensure small businesses have resources to sustain them during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a bill summary provided by Sen. Collins’ office, S. 4321 would authorize $100 billion in long-term, low-cost loans to recovery sector businesses, which include seasonal businesses and businesses located in low-income census tracts, and would provide $190 billion of committed and appropriated funds to support PPP and PPP Second Draw Loans.
Additionally, the proposal would expand forgivable expenses to include covered supplier costs, covered worker protection expenditures, and covered operations expenditures, according to the summary.
And the legislation would provide for $10 billion in long-term debt with equity features to registered SBA Small Business Investment Companies that invest in small businesses with significant revenue losses from COVID-19, manufacturing startups in the domestic supply chain, and low-income communities.
“The Paycheck Protection Program has been a tremendous success,” said Sen. Collins. “In Maine alone, approximately three out of four small businesses and 240,000 jobs are supported by the PPP. Since its launch in early April, it has provided $519 billion in forgivable loans to five million small employers around the nation.”
The bill has been referred to the U.S. Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee for consideration.