Young’s bipartisan proposals would support coronavirus-impacted small, medium businesses

U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) this week unveiled two bipartisan proposals that would support small- and mid-sized businesses hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and our goal is to revitalize the economy and get them back to work as quickly as possible,” said Sen. Young.

Along with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sen. Young introduced the Reviving the Economy Sustainably Towards A Recovery in Twenty-twenty (RESTART) Act loan program to provide loan forgiveness to such businesses. The other proposal would enhance the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to support restaurants and other affected businesses, according to a four-page summary provided by Sen. Young’s office.

“The Paycheck Protection Program is working for many small businesses, but we know more needs to be done,” Sen. Young said. “The RESTART Act will go a step further by helping to provide longer-term loans to businesses and nonprofits that are experiencing economic hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic.”

Sen. Young and his colleague propose a new RESTART Program that would provide funding to these businesses to cover the next six months of payroll, benefits and fixed operating expenses if they have experienced decreased revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A share of the loan would be forgiven based on the revenue losses suffered by a business in 2020, and the remainder may be repaid over seven years, with no interest payments due in the first year and no principal due for the first two years, according to their summary.

And because the PPP, which is authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, currently has an eight-week “covered period” that begins immediately following the origination of a PPP loan, Sens. Young and Bennet propose extending the eight-week covered period to deploy PPP funds and earn loan forgiveness to 16 weeks after the loan is disbursed for the businesses that have seen revenues decline by at least 25 percent, according to their summary.