President Donald Trump signed the $484 billion “Phase 3.5” emergency interim coronavirus relief package into law inside of the Oval Office on Friday, after Congress passed legislation earlier in the week to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses and add billions of dollars in aid to hospitals across the country during the COVID-19 crisis.
President Trump described the bill as “great for small businesses” and “great for the workers,” adding that it will “extend relief to thousands of African-American and Hispanic American business owners.”
“Phase 3.5” will provide an additional $310 billion in funds to the PPP, which was established in order to help businesses with less than 500 employees receive loans that can cover at least eight weeks of payroll, benefits, and other expenses. Out of that $310 billion, $30 billion is reserved for community-based lenders, small banks and credit unions, while another $30 billion will go to mid-sized banks and credit unions.
The law will also provide an additional $50 billion for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) emergency disaster lending program and $10 billion in SBA disaster grants.
The PPP was created as part of the “Phase 3” stimulus package, known as the CARES Act, which was signed into law in March. PPP converts small business loans to grants, which will be fully forgiven if at least 75-percent of the loan is used toward keeping employees on the payroll. The PPP ran out of funding earlier this month, which prompted Congress to pass the “Phase 3.5” relief package to replenish it, as well as fund other programs.
As of Friday, at least 869,172 people have been infected with the coronavirus in the U.S. and nearly 50,000 people have died nationwide.
For more information, visit Fox News.